THE MAKING OF BOBBY BURNIT

[Illustration: I'm in for some of the severest drubbings of my life]

 THE MAKING OF BOBBY BURNIT

 Being a Record of the Adventures of a Live American Young Man

 _By GEORGE RANDOLPH CHESTER_

 AUTHOR OF

 "Get Rich Quick Wallingford, " "The Cash Intrigue, " Etc. 

 WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS

 BY JAMES MONTGOMERY FLAGG AND F. R. GRUGER

 _A. L. BURT COMPANY_ _Publishers New York_

 COPYRIGHT 1908

 THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY

 COPYRIGHT 1909

 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY

 JUNE

 DEDICATION

 To the Handicapped Sons of Able Fathers, and the Handicapped Fathers of Able Sons, with Sympathy for each, and a Smile for both

THE MAKING OF BOBBY BURNIT

CHAPTER I

BOBBY MAKES SOME IMPORTANT PREPARATIONS FOR A COMMERCIAL LIFE

"I am profoundly convinced that my son is a fool, " read the will ofold John Burnit. "I am, however, also convinced that I allowed him tobecome so by too much absorption in my own affairs and too little inhis, and, therefore, his being a fool is hereditary; consequently, Ifeel it my duty, first, to give him a fair trial at making his ownway, and second, to place the balance of my fortune in such trust thathe can not starve. The trusteeship is already created and the detailsare nobody's present business. My son Robert will take over the JohnBurnit Store and personally conduct it, as his only resource, withoutfurther question as to what else I may have left behind me. This is mylast will and testament. "

That is how cheerful Bobby Burnit, with no thought heretofore abovehealthy amusements and Agnes Elliston, suddenly became a business man, after having been raised to become the idle heir to about threemillion. Of course, having no kith nor kin in all this wide world, hewent immediately to consult Agnes. It is quite likely that if he hadbeen supplied with dozens of uncles and aunts he would have gone firstto Agnes anyhow, having a mighty regard for her keen judgment, eventhough her clear gaze rested now and then all too critically uponhimself. Just as he came whirling up the avenue he saw Nick Allstyne'swhite car, several blocks ahead of him, stop at her door, and a figurewhich he knew must be Nick jump out and trip up the steps. Almostimmediately the figure came down again, much more slowly, and climbedinto the car, which whizzed away. 

"Not at home, " grumbled Bobby. 

It was like him, however, that he should continue straight to thequaint old house of the Ellistons and proffer his own card, for, though his aims could seldom be called really worth while, heinvariably finished the thing he set out to do. It seemed to be a sortof disease. He could not help it. To his surprise, the Cerberus whoguarded the Elliston door received him with a smile and a bow, andobserved:

"Miss Elliston says you are to walk right on up to the Turkish alcove, sir. "

While Wilkins took his hat and coat Bobby paused for a momentfiguratively to hug himself. At home to no one else! Expecting him!

"I'll ask her again, " said Bobby to himself with determination, andstalked on up to the second floor hall, upon which opened a delightfulcozy corner where Aunt Constance Elliston permitted the more"family-like" male callers to smoke and loll and be at mannish ease. 

As he reached the landing the door of the library below opened, and init appeared Agnes and an unusually well-set-up young man--a new one, who wore a silky mustache and most fastidious tailoring. The two weretalking and laughing gaily as the door opened, but as Agnes glanced upand saw Bobby she suddenly stopped laughing, and he almost thoughtthat he overheard her say something in an aside to her companion. Theimpression was but fleeting, however, for she immediately noddedbrightly. Bobby bowed rather stiffly in return, and continued hisascent of the stairs with a less sprightly footstep. Crestfallen, andconscious that Agnes had again closed the door of the library withouteither herself or the strange visitor having emerged into the hall, hestrode into the Turkish alcove and let himself drop upon a divan witha thump. He extracted a cigar from his cigar-case, carefully cut offthe tip and as carefully restored the cigar to its place. Then heclasped his interlocked fingers around his knee, and for the next tenminutes strove, like a gentleman, not to listen. 

When Agnes came up presently she made no mention whatever of hercaller, and, of course, Bobby had no excuse upon which to hangimpertinent questions, though the sharp barbs of them were dartingthrough and through him. Such fuming as he felt, however, wasinstantly allayed by the warm and thoroughly honest clasp she gave himwhen she shook hands with him. It was one of the twenty-two millionthings he liked about her that she did not shake hands like two ouncesof cold fish, as did some of the girls he knew. She was dressed in ahalf-formal house-gown, and the one curl of her waving brown hair thatwould persistently straggle down upon her forehead was in itsaccustomed place. He had always been obsessed with a nearlyirresistible impulse to put his finger through that curl. 

"I have come around to consult you about a little business matter, Agnes, " he found himself beginning with sudden breathlessness, hisperturbation forgotten in the overwhelming charm of her. "Thegovernor's will has just been read to me, and he's plunged me into aripping mess. His whole fortune is in the hands of a trusteeship, whatever that is, and I'm not even to know the trustees. All I get isjust the business, and I'm to carry the John Burnit Store on from itspresent blue-ribbon standing to still more dazzling heights, Isuppose. Well, I'd like to do it. The governor deserves it. But, yousee, I'm so beastly thick-headed. Now, Agnes, you have perfectlystunning judgment and all that, so if you would just----" and he cameto an abrupt and painful pause. 

"Have you brought along the contract?" she asked demurely. "Honestly, Bobby, you're the most original person in the world. The first time, Iwas to marry you because you were so awkward, and the next timebecause your father thought so much of me, and another time becauseyou wanted us to tour Norway and not have a whole bothersome crowdalong; then you were tired living in a big, lonely house with just youand your father and the servants; now, it's an advantageous businessarrangement. What share of the profits am I to receive?"

Bobby's face had turned red, but he stuck manfully to his guns. 

"All of them, " he blurted. "You know that none of those is the realreason, " he as suddenly protested. "It is only that when I come totell you the actual reason I rather choke up and can't. "

"You're a mighty nice boy, Bobby, " she confessed. "Now sit down andbehave, and tell me just what you have decided to do. "

"Well, " said he, accepting his defeat with great philosophy, since hehad no reason to regard it as final, "of course, my decision is madefor me. I'm to take hold of the business. I don't know anything aboutit, but I don't see why it shouldn't go straight on as it always has. "

"Possibly, " she admitted thoughtfully; "but I imagine your fatherexpected you to have rather a difficult time of it. Perhaps he wantsyou to, so that a defeat or two will sting you into having a littlemore serious purpose in life than you have at present. I'd like, myself, to see you handle, with credit to him and to you, the splendidestablishment he built up. "

"If I do, " Bobby wanted to know, "will you marry me?"

"That makes eleven times. I'm not saying, Bobby, but you never cantell. "

"That settles it. I'm going to be a business man. Let me use your'phone a minute. " It was one of the many advantages of thedelightfully informal Turkish alcove that it contained a telephone, and in two minutes Bobby had his tailors. "Make me two or threebusiness suits, " he ordered. "Regular business suits, I mean, for realbusiness wear--you know the sort of thing--and get them done asquickly as you can, please. There!" said he as he hung up thereceiver. "I shall begin to-morrow morning. I'll go down early andtake hold of the John Burnit Store in earnest. "

"You've made a splendid start, " commented Agnes, smiling. "Now tell meabout the polo tournament, " and she sat back to enjoy his enthusiasmover something about which he was entirely posted. 

He was good to look at, was Bobby, with his clean-cut figure and hisclean-cut face and his clean, blue eyes and clean complexion, and shedelighted in nothing more than just to sit and watch him when he wasat ease; he was so restful, so certain to be always telling the truth, to be always taking a charitably good-humored view of life, to turn onwholesome topics and wholesome points of view; but after he had goneshe smiled and sighed and shook her head. 

"Poor Bobby, " she mused. "There won't be a shred left of his tenderlittle fleece by the time he gets through. "

One more monitor Bobby went to see that afternoon, and this was BiffBates. It required no sending in of cards to enter the presence ofthis celebrity. One simply stepped out of the elevator and used one'slatch-key. It was so much more convenient. Entering a big, barnlikeroom he found Mr. Bates, clad only in trunks and canvas shoes, wreaking dire punishment upon a punching-bag merely by way ofamusement; and Mr. Bates, with every symptom of joy illuminating hisrather horizontal features--wide brows, wide cheek-bone, wide nose, wide mouth, wide chin, wide jaw--stopped to shake hands mostenthusiastically with his caller without removing his padded glove. 

"What's the good news, old pal?" he asked huskily. 

He was half a head shorter than Bobby and four inches broader acrossthe shoulders, and his neck spread out over all the top of his torso;but there was something in the clear gaze of the eyes which made thetwo gentlemen look quite alike as they shook hands, vastly differentas they were. 

"Bad news for you, I'm afraid, " announced Bobby. "That littlepartnership idea of the big gymnasium will have to be called off for awhile. "

Mr. Bates took a contemplative punch or two at the still quiveringbag. 

"It was a fake, anyway, " he commented, putting his arm around the topof the punching-bag and leaning against it comfortably; "just likethis place. You went into partnership with me on this joint--that is, you put up the coin and run in a lot of your friends on me to betrained up--squarest lot of sports I ever saw, too. You fill the placewith business and allow me a weekly envelope that makes me tilt mychin till I have to wear my lid down over my eyes to keep it fromfalling off the back of my head, and when there's profits to split upyou shoves mine into my mitt and puts yours into improvements. You putin the new shower baths and new bars and traps, and the last thing, that swimming-tank back there. I'm glad the big game's off. I'm socontented now I'm getting over-weight, and you'd bilk me again. Butwhat's the matter? Did the bookies get you?"

"No; I'll tell you all about it, " and Bobby carefully explained theterms of his father's will and what they meant. 

Mr. Bates listened carefully, and when the explanation was finished hethought for a long time. 

"Well, Bobby, " said he, "here's where you get it. They'll shred youclean. You're too square for that game. Your old man was a fine oldsport and _he_ played it on the level, but, say, he could see a markedcard clear across a room. They'll double-cross you, though, to afare-ye-well. "

The opinion seemed to be unanimous. 

CHAPTER II

PINK CARNATIONS APPEAR IN THE OFFICE OF THE JOHN BURNIT STORE

Bobby gave his man orders to wake him up early next morning, say notlater than eight, and prided himself very much upon his energy when, at ten-thirty, he descended from his machine in front of the old andhonored establishment of John Burnit, and, leaving instructions forhis chauffeur to call for him at twelve, made his way down the longaisles of white-piled counters and into the dusty little office whereold Johnson, thin as a rail and with a face like whittled chalk, humped over his desk exactly as he had sat for the past thirty-fiveyears. 

"Good-morning, Johnson, " observed Bobby with an affable nod. "I'vecome to take over the business. "

He said it in the same untroubled tone he had always used in askingfor his weekly check, and Johnson looked up with a wry smile. Applerod, on the contrary, was beaming with hearty admiration. He wasas florid as Johnson was colorless, and the two had rubbed elbows anddispositions in that same room almost since the house of Burnit hadbeen founded. 

"Very well, sir, " grudged Johnson, and immediately laid upon thetime-blackened desk which had been old John Burnit's, a closelytypewritten statement of some twenty pages. On top of this he placed aplain gray envelope addressed:

 _To My Son Robert, Upon the Occasion of His Taking Over the Business_

Upon this envelope Bobby kept his eyes in mild speculation, while heleisurely laid aside his cane and removed his gloves and coat and hat;next he sat down in his father's jerky old swivel chair and lit acigarette; then he opened the letter. He read:

 "Every business needs a pessimist and an optimist, with ample opportunities to quarrel. Johnson is a jackass, but honest. He is a pessimist and has a pea-green liver. Listen to him and the business will die painlessly, by inches. Applerod is also a jackass, and I presume him to be honest; but I never tested it. He suffers from too much health, and the surplus goes into optimism. Listen to him and the business will die in horrible agony, quickly. But keep both of them. Let them fight things out until they come almost to an understanding, then take the middle course. "

That was all. Bobby turned squarely to survey the frowning Johnson andthe still beaming Applerod, and with a flash of clarity he saw hisfather's wisdom. He had always admired John Burnit, aside from thefact that the sturdy pioneer had been his father, had admired him muchas one admires the work of a master magician--without any hope ofemulation. As he read the note he could seem to see the old gentlemanstanding there with his hands behind him, ready to stretch on tiptoeand drop to his heels with a thump as he reached a climax, hisspectacles shoved up on his forehead, his strong, wrinkled face sternfrom the cheek-bones down, but twinkling from that line upward, thetwinkle, which had its seat about the shrewd eyes, suddenlyterminating in a sharp, whimsical, little up-pointed curl in the verymiddle of his forehead. To corroborate his warm memory Bobby openedthe front of his watch-case, where the same face looked him squarelyin the eyes. Naturally, then, he opened the other lid, where AgnesElliston's face smiled up at him. Suddenly he shut both lids with asnap and turned, with much distaste but with a great show of energy, to the heavy statement which had all this time confronted him. Thefirst page he read over laboriously, the second one he skimmedthrough, the third and fourth he leafed over; and then he skipped tothe last sheet, where was set down a concise statement of the netassets and liabilities. 

"According to this, " observed Bobby with great show of wisdom, "I takeover the business in a very flourishing condition. "

"Well, " grudgingly admitted Mr. Johnson, "it might be worse. "

"It could hardly be better, " interposed Applerod--"that is, withoutthe extensions and improvements that I think your father would havecome in time to make. Of course, at his age he was naturally a bitconservative. "

"Mr. Applerod and myself have never agreed upon that point, " wheezedJohnson sharply. "For my part I considered your father--well, scarcelyreckless, but, say, sufficiently daring! Daring is about the word. "

Bobby grinned cheerfully. 

"He let the business go rather by its own weight, didn't he?"

Both gentlemen shook their heads, instantly and most emphatically. 

"He certainly must have, " insisted Bobby. "As I recollect it, he onlyworked up here, of late years, from about eleven fifty-five to twelveevery other Thursday. "

"Oftener than that, " solemnly corrected the literal Mr. Johnson. "Hewas here from eleven until twelve-thirty every day. "

"What did he do?"

It was Applerod who, with keen appreciation, hastened to advise himupon this point. 

"Said 'yes' twice and 'no' twelve times. Then, at the very lastminute, when we thought that he was through, he usually landed on aproposition that hadn't been put up to him at all, and put it clearout of the business. "

"Looks like good finessing to me, " said Bobby complacently. "I think Ishall play it that way. "

"It wouldn't do, sir, " Mr. Johnson replied in a tone of keen pain. "You must understand that when your father started this business itwas originally a little fourteen-foot-front place, one story high. Hegot down here at six o'clock every morning and swept out. As he gotalong a little further he found that he could trust somebody else withthat job--_but he always knew how to sweep_. It took him a lifetime tosimmer down his business to just 'yes' and 'no. '"

"I see, " mused Bobby; "and I'm expected to take that man's place! Howwould you go about it?"

"I would suggest, without meaning any impertinence whatever, sir, "insinuated Mr. Johnson, "that if you were to start clerking----"

"Or sweeping out at six o'clock in the morning?" calmly interruptedBobby. "I don't like to stay up so late. No, Johnson, about the onlything I'm going to do to show my respect for the traditions of thehouse is to leave this desk just as it is, and hang an oil portrait ofmy father over it. And, by the way, isn't there some little side roomwhere I can have my office? I'm going into this thing very earnestly. "

Mr. Johnson and Mr. Applerod exchanged glances. 

"The door just to the right there, " said Mr. Johnson, "leads to a roomwhich is at present filled with old files of the credit department. Nodoubt those could be moved somewhere else. "

Bobby walked into that room and gaged its possibilities. It was alittle small, to be sure, but it would do for the present. 

"Just have that cleared out and a 'phone put in. I'll get right downto business this afternoon and see about the fittings for it. " Then helooked at his watch once more. "By George!" he exclaimed, "I almostforgot that I was to see Nick Allstyne at the Idlers' Club about thatpolo match. Just have one of your boys stand out at the curb alongabout twelve, will you, and tell my chauffeur to report at the club. "

Johnson eyed the closed door over his spectacles. 

"He'll be having blue suits and brass buttons on us two next, " hesnorted. 

"He don't mean it at all that way, " protested Applerod. "For my part, I think he's a fine young fellow. "

"I'll give you to understand, sir, " retorted Johnson, violentlyresenting this imputed defection, "that he is the son of his father, and for that, if for nothing else, would have my entire allegiance. "

Bobby, meanwhile, feeling very democratic and very much a man ofaffairs, took a street-car to the Idlers', and strode through theclassic portals of that club with gravity upon his brow. Flaxen-hairedNick Allstyne, standing by the registry desk, turned to dark PayneWinthrop with a nod. 

"You win, " he admitted. "I'll have to charge it up to you, Bobby. Ijust lost a quart of the special to Payne that since you'd becomeimmersed in the cares of business you'd not be here. "

Bobby was almost austere in his reception of this slight. 

"Don't you know, " he demanded, "that there is nobody who keeps evenhis social engagements like a business man?"

"That's what I gambled on, " returned Payne confidentially, "but Iwasn't sure just how much of a business man you'd become. Nick, don'tyou already seem to see a crease in Bobby's brow?"

"No, that's his regular polo crease, " objected lanky Stanley Rogers, joining them, and the four of them fell upon polo as one man. Theirespecially anxious part in the tournament was to be a grinding matchagainst Willie Ashler's crack team, and the point of worry was that somany of their fellows were out of town. They badly needed one moregood player. 

"I have it, " declared Bobby finally. It was he who usually decidedthings in this easy-going, athletic crowd. "We'll make Jack Starlettplay, but the only way to get him is to go over to Washington afterhim. Payne, you're to go along. You always keep a full set of regaliahere at the club, I know. Here, boy!" he called to a passing page. "Find out for us the next two trains to Washington. "

"Yes, sir, " said the boy with a grin, and was off like a shot. Theyhad a strict rule against tipping in the Idlers', but if he happenedto meet Bobby outside, say at the edge of the curb where his car wasstanding, there was no rule against his receiving something there. Besides, he liked Bobby, anyhow. They all did. He was back in amoment. 

"One at two-ten and one at four-twenty, sir. "

"The two-ten sounds about right, " announced Bobby. "Now, Billy, telephone to my apartments to have my Gladstone and my dress-suit togsbrought down to that train. Then, by the way, telephone Leatherby andPluscher to send up to my place of business and have Mr. Johnson showtheir man my new office. Have him take measurements of it and fit itup at once, complete. They know the kind of things I like. Really, fellows, " he continued, turning to the others, after he had patientlyrepeated and explained his instructions to the foggy but willingBilly, "I'm in serious earnest about this thing. Up to me, you know, to do credit to the governor, if I can. "

"Bobby, the Boy Bargain Baron, " observed Nick. "Well, I guess you cando it. All you need to do is to take hold, and I'll back you at anyodds. "

"We'll all put a bet on you, " encouraged Stanley Rogers. "More, we'llhelp. We'll all get married and send our wives around to open accountswith you. "

In spite of the serious business intentions, the luncheon whichfollowed was the last the city saw of Bobby Burnit for three days. Beit said to his credit that he had accomplished his purpose when hereturned. He had brought reluctant Jack Starlett back with him, andtogether they walked into the John Burnit Store. 

"New office fitted up yet, Johnson?" asked Bobby pleasantly. 

"Yes, sir, " replied Johnson sourly. "Just a moment, Mr. Burnit, " andfrom an index cabinet back of him he procured an oblong gray envelopewhich he handed to Bobby. It was inscribed:

 _To My Son, Upon the Fitting-Out of New Offices_

With a half-embarrassed smile, Bobby regarded that letter thoughtfullyand carried it into the luxurious new office. He opened it and readit, and, still with that queer smile, passed it over to Starlett. Thiswas old John Burnit's message:

 "I have seen a business work up to success, and afterward add velvet rugs and dainty flowers on the desk, but I never saw a successful business start that way. "

Bobby looked around him with a grin. There _was_ a velvet rug on thefloor. There were no flowers upon the mahogany desk, but there _was_ avase to receive them. For just one moment he was nonplussed; then heopened the door leading to the dingy apartment occupied by Messrs. Johnson and Applerod. 

"Mr. Johnson, " said he, "will you kindly send out and get two dozenpink carnations for my room?"

Quiet, big Jack Starlett, having loaded and lit and taken the firstlong puff, removed his pipe from his lips. 

"Bully!" said he. 

CHAPTER III

OLD JOHN BURNIT'S ANCIENT ENEMY POINTS OUT THE WAY TO GRANDEUR

Mr. Johnson had no hair in the very center of his head, but, when hewas more than usually vexed, he ran his fingers through what was leftupon both sides of the center and impatiently pushed it up toward acommon point. His hair was in that identical condition when he knockedat the door of Bobby's office and poked in his head to announce Mr. Silas Trimmer. 

"Trimmer, " mused Bobby. "Oh, yes; he is the John Burnit Store's chiefcompetitor; concern backs up against ours, fronting on Market Street. Show him in, Johnson. "

Jack Starlett, who had dropped in to loaf a bit, rose to go. 

"Sit down, " insisted Bobby. "I'm conducting this thing all open andaboveboard. You know, I think I shall like business. "

"They tell me it's the greatest game out, " commented Starlett, andjust then Mr. Trimmer entered. 

He was a little, wiry man as to legs and arms, but fearfully rotund asto paunch, and he had a yellow leather face and black eyes which, though gleaming like beads, seemed to have a muddy cast. Bobby rose togreet him with a cordiality in no degree abashed by this appearance. 

"And what can we do for you, Mr. Trimmer?" he asked after the usualinanities of greeting had been exchanged. 

"Take lunch with me, " invited Mr. Trimmer, endeavoring to beam, hisheavy, down-drooping gray mustache remaining immovable in front of thedeeply-chiseled smile that started far above the corners of his noseand curved around a display of yellow teeth. "I have just learned thatyou have taken over the business, and I wish as quickly as possible toform with the son the same cordial relations which for years I enjoyedwith the father. "

Bobby looked him contemplatively in the eye, but had no experienceupon which to base a picture of his father and Mr. Trimmer enjoyingperpetually cordial relations with a knife down each boot leg. 

"Very sorry, Mr. Trimmer, but I am engaged for lunch. "

"Dinner, then--at the Traders' Club, " insisted Mr. Trimmer, who neverfor any one moment had remained entirely still, either his foot or hishand moving, or some portion of his body twitching almost incessantly. 

Inwardly Bobby frowned, for, so far, he had found no points about hiscaller to arouse his personal enthusiasm; and yet it suddenly occurredto him that here was doubtless business, and that it ought to haveattention. His father, under similar circumstances, would find outwhat the man was after. He cast a hesitating glance at his friend. 

"Don't mind me, Bobby, " said Starlett briskly. "You know I shall becompelled to take dinner with the folks to-night. "

"At about what time, Mr. Trimmer?" Bobby asked. 

"Oh, suit yourself. Any time, " responded that gentleman eagerly. "Sayhalf-past six. "

"The Traders', " mused Bobby. "I think the governor put me up therefour or five years ago. "

"I seconded you, " the other informed him; "and I had the pleasure ofvoting for you just the other day, on the vacancy made by your father. You're a full-fledged member now. "

"Fine!" said Bobby. "Business suit or----"

"Anything you like. " With again that circular smile behind hisimmovable mustache, Mr. Trimmer backed out of the room, and Bobby, dropping into a chair, turned perplexed eyes upon his friend. 

"What do you suppose he wants?" he inquired. 

"Your eye-teeth, " returned Jack bluntly. "He looks like a mucker tome. "

"Oh, I don't know, " returned Bobby, a trifle uneasily. "You see, Jack, he isn't exactly our sort, and maybe we can't get just the right anglein judging him. He's been nailed down to business all his life, youknow, and a fellow in that line don't have a chance, as I take it, tocultivate all the little--well, say artificial graces. "

"Your father wasn't like him. He was as near a thoroughbred as I eversaw, Bobby, and he was nailed down, as you put it, all _his_ life. "

"Oh, you couldn't expect them all to be like the governor, " respondedBobby instantly, shocked at the idea. "But this chap may be no end ofa good sort in his style. No doubt at all he merely came over in afriendly way to bid me a sort of welcome into the fraternity ofbusiness men, " and Bobby felt quite a little thrill of pride in thatnovel idea. "By George! Wait a minute, " he exclaimed as still anotherbrilliant thought struck him, and going into the other room he said toJohnson: "Please give me the letter addressed: 'To My Son Robert, Uponthe Occasion of Mr. Trimmer's First Call. '"

For the first time in days a grin irradiated Johnson's face. 

"Nothing here, sir, " he replied. 

"Let me go through that file. "

"Strictly against orders, sir, " said Johnson. 

"Indeed, " responded Bobby quizzically; "I don't like to press the bet, Johnson, but really I'd like to know who has the say here. "

"You have, sir, over everything except my private affairs; and thatletter file is my private property and its contents my privatetrusteeship. "

"I can still take my castor oil like a little man, if I have to, "Bobby resignedly observed. "I remember that when I was a kiddy thegovernor once undertook to teach me mathematics, and he never wouldlet me see the answers. More than ever it looks like it was up toBobby, " and whistling cheerfully he walked back into his privateoffice. 

Johnson turned to Applerod with a snarl. 

"Mr. Applerod, " said he, "you know that I almost never swear. I am nowabout to do so. Darn it! It's a shame that Trimmer calls here again onthat old scheme about which he deviled this house for years, and weforbidden to give Mr. Robert a word of advice unless he asks for it. "

"Why is it a shame?" demanded Applerod. "I always have thought thatTrimmer's plan was a great one. "

So, all unprepared, Bobby went forth that evening, to becomeacquainted with the great plan. 

At the restless Traders' Club, where the precise corridors and columnsand walls and ceilings of white marble were indicative of greatformality, men with creases in their brows wore their derbies on thebacks of their heads and ceaselessly talked shop. Mr. Trimmer, morecreased of brow than any of them, was drifting from group to groupwith his eyes turned anxiously toward the door until Bobby came in. Mr. Trimmer was most effusively glad to see the son of his old friendonce again, and lost no time in seating him at a most secluded table, where, by the time the oysters came on, he was deep in a catalogue ofthe virtues of John Burnit; and Bobby, with a very real and a verydeep affection for his father which seldom found expression in words, grew restive. One thing held him, aside from his obligations as aguest. He was convinced now that his host's kindness was in truth amere graceful act of welcome, due largely to his father's standing, and the idea flattered him very much. He strove to look asbusinesslike as possible, and thought again and again upon his father;of how he had sat day after day in this stately dining-hall, honoredand venerated among these men who were striving still for the idealthat he had attained. It was a good thought, and made for pride of theright sort. With the entrée Mr. Trimmer ordered his favorite vintagechampagne, and, as it boiled up like molten amber in the glasses, sosturdily that the center of the surface kept constantly a full quarterof an inch above the sides, he waited anxiously for Bobby to sampleit. Even Bobby, long since disillusioned of such things and grownabstemious from healthy choice, after a critical taste sipped slowlyagain and again. 

"That's ripping good wine, " he acknowledged. 

"There's only a little over two hundred bottles of it left in theworld, " Mr. Trimmer assured him, and then he waited for that firstglass to exert its warming glow. He was a good waiter, was SilasTrimmer, and keenly sensitive to personal influences. He knew thatBobby had not been in entire harmony with him at any period of theevening, but after the roast came on--a most careful roast, indeed, prepared under a certain formula upon which Mr. Trimmer hadpainstakingly insisted--he saw that he had really found his way for amoment to Bobby's heart through the channel provided by Nature forattacks upon masculine sympathy, and at that moment he leaned forwardwith his circular smile, and observed:

"By the way, Mr. Burnit, I suppose your father often discussed withyou the great plan we evolved for the Burnit-Trimmer Arcade?"

Bobby almost blushed at the confession he must make. 

"I'm sorry to say that he didn't, " he owned. "I never took theinterest in such things that I ought, and so I missed a lot ofconfidences I'd like to have had now. "

"Too bad, " sympathized Mr. Trimmer, now quite sure of his ground, since he had found that Bobby was not posted. "It was a splendid planwe had. You know, your building and mine are precisely the same widthand precisely in a line with each other, back to back, with only thealley separating us, the Trimmer establishment fronting on MarketStreet and the Burnit building on Grand. The alley is fully five feetbelow our two floor lines, and we could, I am quite sure, getpermission to bridge it at a clearance of not to exceed twelve feet. By raising the rear departments of your store and of mine a foot orso, and then building a flight of broad, easy steps up and down, wecould almost conceal the presence of this bridge from the inside, andmake one immense establishment running straight through from Grand toMarket Streets. The floors above the first, of course, would bridgeover absolutely level, and the combined stores would comprise by farthe largest establishment in the city. Of course, the advantage of itfrom an advertising standpoint alone would be well worth while. "

Bobby could instantly see the almost interminable length of store areathus presented, and it appealed to his sense of big things at once. 

"What did father say about this?" he asked. 

"Thought it a brilliant idea, " glibly returned Mr. Trimmer. "In fact, I think it was he who first suggested such a possibility, seeing veryclearly the increased trade and the increased profits that wouldaccrue from such an extension, which would, in fact, be simply thedoubling of our already big stores without additional capitalization. We worked out two or three plans for the consolidation, but in thelater years your father was very slow about making actual extensionsor alterations in his merchandising business, preferring to expend hisenergies on his successful outside enterprises. I feel sure, however, that he would have come to it in time, for the development is sological, so much in keeping with the business methods of the times. "

Here again was insidious flattery, the insinuation that Bobby must bethoroughly aware of "the business methods of the times. "

"Of course, the idea is new to me, " said Bobby, assuming as best hecould the air of business reserve which seemed appropriate to theoccasion; "but I should say, in a general way, that I should not careto give up the identity of the John Burnit Store. "

"That is a fine and a proper spirit, " agreed Mr. Trimmer, with greatenthusiasm. "I like to see it in a young man, but I've no doubt thatwe can arrange that little matter. Of course, we would have toincorporate, say, as the Burnit-Trimmer Mercantile Corporation, butwhile having that name on the front of both buildings, it might not bea bad idea, for business as well as sentimental reasons, to keep theold signs at the tops of both, just as they now are. Those are littledetails to discuss later; but as the stock of the new company, basedupon the present invoice values of our respective concerns, would bepractically all in your hands and mine, this would be a very amicableand easily arranged matter. I tell you, Mr. Burnit, this is atremendous plan, attractive to the public and immensely profitable tous, and I do not know of anything you could do that would so well asthis show you to be a worthy successor to John Burnit; for, of course, it would scarcely be a credit to you to carry on your father'sbusiness without change or advance. "

It was the best and the most crafty argument Mr. Trimmer had used, andBobby carried away from the Traders' Club a glowing impression of thispoint. His father had built up this big business by his own unaidedefforts. Should Bobby leave that legacy just where he had found it, orshould he carry it on to still greater heights? The answer wasobvious. 

CHAPTER IV

AGNES EMPHATICALLY DECIDES THAT SHE DOES NOT LIKE A CERTAIN PERSON

At the theater that evening, Bobby, to his vexation, found AgnesElliston walking in the promenade foyer with the well-set-up stranger. He passed her with a nod and slipped moodily into the rear of theElliston box, where Aunt Constance, perennially young, wasentertaining Nick Allstyne and Jack Starlett, and keeping them at akeen wit's edge, too. Bobby gave them the most perfunctory ofgreetings, and, sitting back by himself, sullenly moped. He grumbledto himself that he had a headache; the play was a humdrum affair;Trimmer was a bore; the proposed consolidation had suddenly lost itsprismatic coloring; the Traders' Club was crude; Starlett and Allstynewere utterly frivolous. All this because Agnes was out in the foyerwith a very likely-looking young man. 

She did not return until the end of that act, and found Bobby ready togo, pleading early morning business. 

"Is it important?" she asked. 

"Who's the chap with the silky mustache?" he suddenly demanded, unableto forbear any longer. "He's a new one. "

The eyes of Agnes gleamed mischievously. 

"Bobby, I'm astonished at your manners, " she chided him. "Now tell mewhat you've been doing with yourself. "

"Trying to grow up into John Burnit's truly son, " he told her withsome trace of pompous pride, being ready in advance to accept hisrebuke meekly, as he always had to do, and being quite ready to coverup his grievous error with a change of topic. "I had no idea thatbusiness could so grip a fellow. But what I'd like to find out justnow is who is my trustee? It must have been somebody with horse sense, or the governor would not have appointed whoever it was. I'm not goingto ask anything I'm forbidden to know, but I want some advice. Now, how shall I learn who it is?"

"Well, " replied Agnes thoughtfully, "about the only plan I can suggestis that you ask your father's legal and business advisers. "

He positively beamed down at her. 

"You're the dandy girl, all right, " he said admiringly. "Now, if youwould only----"

"Bobby, " she interrupted him, "do you know that we are standing uphere in a box, with something like a thousand people, possibly, turnedin our direction?"

He suddenly realized that they were alone, the others having filed outinto the promenade, and, placing a chair for her in the extreme rearcorner of the box, where he could fence her off, sat down beside her. He began to describe to her the plan of Silas Trimmer, and as he wenton his enthusiasm mounted. The thing had caught his fancy. If he couldonly increase the profits of the John Burnit Store in the very firstyear, it would be a big feather in his cap. It would be precisely whathis father would have desired! Agnes listened attentively all throughthe fourth act to his glowing conception of what the reorganized JohnBurnit Company would be like. He was perfectly contented now. Hisheadache was gone; such occasional glimpses as he caught of the playwere delightful; Mr. Trimmer was a genius; the Traders' Club afascinating introduction to a new life; Starlett and Allstyne a joyousrelief to him after the sordid cares of business. In a word, Agnes waswith him. 

"Do you think your father would accept this proposition?" she askedhim after he was all through. 

"I think he would at my age, " decided Bobby promptly. 

"That is, if he had been brought up as you have, " she laughed. "Ithink I should study a long time over it, Bobby, before I made anysuch important and sweeping change as this must necessarily be. "

"Oh, yes, " he agreed with an assumption of deep conservatism; "ofcourse I'll think it over well, and I'll take good, sound advice onit. "

"I have never seen Mr. Trimmer, " mused Agnes. "I seldom go into hisstore, for there always seems to me something shoddy about the wholeplace; but to-morrow I think I shall make it a point to secure aglimpse of him. "

Bobby was delighted. Agnes had always been interested in whateverinterested him, but never so absorbedly so as now, it seemed. Healmost forgot the stranger in his pleasure. He forgot him still morewhen, dismissing his chauffeur, he seated Agnes in the front of thecar beside him, with Starlett and Allstyne and Aunt Constance in thetonneau, and went whirling through the streets and up the avenue. Itwas but a brief trip, not over a half-hour, and they had scarcely achance to exchange a word; but just to be up front there alone withher meant a whole lot to Bobby. 

Afterward he took the other fellows down to the gymnasium, where BiffBates drew him to one side. 

"Look here, old pal!" said Bates. "I saw you real chummy with T. W. Tight-Wad Trimmer to-night. "

"Yes?" admitted Bobby interrogatively. 

"Well, you know I don't go around with my hammer out, but I want toput you wise to this mut. He's in with a lot of political graft, forone thing, and he's a sure thing guy for another. He likes to take aflyer at the bangtails a few times a season, and last summer hewelshed on Joe Poog's book; claimed Joe misunderstood his fingers fortwo thousand in place of two hundred. "

"Well, maybe there was a mistake, " said Bobby, loath to believe such amonstrous charge against any one whom he knew. 

"Mistake nawthin', " insisted Biff. "Joe Poog don't take finger betsfor hundreds, and Trimmer never did bet that way. He's a born welsher, anyhow. He looks the part, and I just want to tell you, Bobby, that ifyou go to the mat with this crab you'll get up with the marks of hispinchers on your windpipe; that's all. "

Early the next morning--that is, at about ten o'clock--Bobby bouncedenergetically into the office of Barrister and Coke, where old Mr. Barrister, who had been his father's lawyer for a great many years, received him with all the unbending grace of an ebony cane. 

"I have come to find out who were the trustees appointed by my father, Mr. Barrister, " began Bobby, with a cheerful air of expecting to beinformed at once, "not that I wish to inquire about the estate, butthat I need some advice on entirely different matters. "

"I shall be glad to serve you with any legal advice that you mayneed, " offered Mr. Barrister, patting his finger-tips gently together. 

"Are you the trustee?"

"No, sir"--this with a dusty smile. 

"Who is, then?"

"The only information which I am at liberty to give you upon thatpoint, " said Mr. Barrister drily, "is that contained in your father'swill. Would you care to examine a copy of that document again?"

"No, thanks, " declined Bobby politely. "It's too truthful forcomfort. "

From there he went straight to his own place of business, where heasked the same question of Johnson. In reply, Mr. Johnson produced, from his own personal and private index-file, an oblong gray envelopeaddressed:

 _To My Son Robert, Upon His Inquiring About the Trusteeship of My Estate_

Opening this in the privacy of his own office, Bobby read:

 "As stated in my will, it is none of your present business. "

"Up to Bobby again, " the son commented aloud. "Well, Governor, " andhis shoulders straightened while his eyes snapped, "if you can standit, I can. Hereafter I shall take my own advice, and if I lose I shallknow how to find the chap who's to blame. "

He had an opportunity to "go it alone" that very morning, when Johnsonand Applerod came in to him together with a problem. Was or was notthat Chicago branch to be opened? The elder Mr. Burnit had consideredit most gravely, but had left the matter undecided. Mr. Applerod wasvery keenly in favor of it, Mr. Johnson as earnestly against it, andin his office they argued the matter with such heat that Bobby, accepting a typed statement of the figures in the case, virtuallyturned them out. 

"When must you have a decision?" he demanded. 

"To-morrow. We must wire either our acceptance or rejection of thelease. "

"Very well, " said Bobby, quite elated that he was carrying the thingoff with an air and a tone so crisp; "just leave it to me, will you?"

He waded through the statement uncomprehendingly. Here was a problemwhich was covered and still not covered by his father's observationsanent Johnson and Applerod. It was a matter for wrangling, obviouslyenough, but there was no difference to split. It was a case ofdeciding either yes or no. For the balance of the time until JackStarlett called for him at twelve-thirty, he puzzled earnestly andsoberly over the thing, and next morning the problem still weighedupon him when he turned in at the office. He could see as he passedthrough the outer room that both Johnson and Applerod were furtivelyeying him, but he walked past them whistling. When he had closed hisown door behind him he drew again that mass of data toward him andstruggled against the chin-high tide. Suddenly he shoved the papersaside, and, taking a half-dollar from his pocket, flipped it on thefloor. Eagerly he leaned over to look at it. Tails! With a sigh ofrelief he put the coin back in his pocket and lit a cigarette. Abouthalf an hour later the committee of two came solemnly in to see him. 

"Have you decided to open the Chicago branch, sir?" asked Johnson. 

"Not this year, " said Bobby coolly, and handed back the data. "I wish, Mr. Johnson, you would appoint a page to be in constant attendanceupon this room. "

Back at their own desks Johnson gloated in calm triumph. 

"It may be quite possible that Mr. Robert may turn out to be aduplicate of his father, " he opined. 

"I don't know, " confessed Applerod, crestfallen. "I had thought thathe would be more willing to take a sporting chance. "

Mr. Johnson snorted. Mr. Applerod, who had never bet two dollars onany proposition in his life, considered himself very much of asporting disposition. 

Savagely in love with his new assertiveness Bobby called on Agnes thatevening. 

"I saw Mr. Trimmer to-day, " she told him. "I don't like him. "

"I didn't want you to, " he replied with a grin. "You like too manypeople now. "

"But I'm serious, Bobby, " she protested, unconsciously clinging to hishand as they sat down upon the divan. "I wouldn't enter into anybusiness arrangements with him. I don't know just what there is abouthim that repels me, but--well, I don't _like_ him!"

"Can't say I've fallen in love with him myself, " he replied. "But, Agnes, if a fellow only did business with the men his nearestwomen-folks liked, there wouldn't be much business done. "

"There wouldn't be so many losses, " she retorted. 

"Bound to have the last word, of course, " he answered, taking refugein that old and quite false slur against women in general; for a mansuffers from his spleen if he can not put the quietus on everyargument. "But, honestly, I don't fear Mr. Trimmer. I've beeninquiring into this stock company business. We are each to have stockin the new company, if we form one, in exact proportion to theinvoices of our respective establishments. Well, the Trimmer concerncan't possibly invoice as much as we shall, and I'll have the majorityof stock, which is the same as holding all the trumps. I had Mr. Barrister explain all that to me. With the majority of stock you canhave everything your own way, and the other chap can't even protest. Seems sort of a shame, too. "

"I don't like him, " declared Agnes. 

The ensuing week Bobby spent mostly on the polo match, though hecalled religiously at the office every morning, coming down a fewminutes earlier each day. It was an uneasy week, too, as well as abusy one, for twice during its progress he saw Agnes driving with theunknown; and the fact that in both instances a handsome young lady waswith them did not seem to mend matters much. He was astonished to findthat losing the great polo match did not distress him at all. A yearbefore it would have broken his heart, but the multiplicity of newinterests had changed him entirely. As a matter of fact, he had beenlong ripe for the change, though he had not known it. As he hadmatured, the blood of his heredity had begun to clamor for itsexpression; that was all. 

At the beginning of the next week Mr. Trimmer came in to see himagain, with a roll of drawings under his arm. The drawings displayedthe proposed new bridge in elevation and in cross section. They showedthe total stretch of altered store-rooms from street to street, andcleverly-drawn perspectives made graphically real that splendidlength. They were accompanied by an estimate of the cost, and also bya permit from the city to build the bridge. With these were thepreliminary papers for the organization of the new company, and Bobby, by this time intensely interested and convinced that his interest wasbusiness acumen, went over each detail with contracted brow and withkindling enthusiasm. 

It was ten o'clock of that morning when Silas Trimmer had found Bobbyat his desk; by eleven Mr. Johnson and Mr. Applerod, in the outeroffice, were quite unable to work; by twelve they were snarling ateach other; at twelve-thirty Johnson ventured to poke his head in atthe door, framing some trivial excuse as he did so, but found the twomerchants with their heads bent closely over the advantages of thegreat combined stores. At a quarter-past one, returning from a hastylunch, Johnson tiptoed to the door again. He still heard an insistent, high-pitched voice inside. Mr. Trimmer was doing all the talking. Hehad explained and explained until his tongue was dry, and Bobby, witha full sense of the importance of his decision, was trying to clearaway the fog that had grown up in his brain. Mr. Trimmer was pressinghim for a decision. Bobby suddenly slipped his hand in his pocket, and, unseen, secured a half-dollar, which he shook in his hand underthe table. Opening his palm he furtively looked at the coin. Heads!

"Get your papers ready, Mr. Trimmer, " he announced, as one finallysatisfied by good and sufficient argument, "we'll form theorganization as soon as you like. "

No sooner had he come to this decision than he felt a strange sense ofelation. He had actually consummated a big business deal! He had madea positive step in the direction of carrying the John Burnit Storebeyond the fame it had possessed at the time his father had turned itover to him! Since he had stiffened his back, he did not condescend totake Johnson and Applerod into his confidence, though those twogentlemen were quivering to receive it, but he did order Johnson toallow Mr. Trimmer's representatives to go over the John Burnit booksand to verify their latest invoice, together with the purchases andsales since the date of that stock-taking. To Mr. Applerod he assignedthe task of making a like examination of the Trimmer establishment, and each day felt more like a really-truly business man. He affectedthe Traders' Club now, formed an entirely new set of acquaintances, and learned to go about the stately rooms of that magnificent businessannex with his hat on the back of his head and creases in his brow. 

Even before the final papers were completed, a huge gang of workmen, consisting of as many artisans as could be crowded on the job withoutstanding on one another's feet, began to construct the elaboratebridge which was to connect the two stores, and Mr. Trimmer'spublicity department was already securing column after column of spacein the local papers, some of it paid matter and some gratis, whereinit appeared that the son of old John Burnit had proved himself to be alive, progressive young man--a worthy heir of so enterprising afather. 

CHAPTER V

WHEREIN BOBBY ATTENDS A STOCK-HOLDERS' MEETING AND CUTS A WISDOM-TOOTH

Within a very few days was completed the complicated legal machinerywhich threw the John Burnit Store and Trimmer and Company into thehands of "The Burnit-Trimmer Merchandise Corporation" as a holding andoperating concern. The John Burnit Store went into that consolidationat an invoice value of two hundred and sixty thousand dollars, Trimmerand Company at two hundred and forty thousand; and Bobby was dulypleased. He had the majority of stock! On the later suggestion of Mr. Trimmer, however, sixty thousand dollars of additional capital wastaken into the concern. 

"The alterations, expansions, new departments and publicity willcompel the command of about that much money, " Mr. Trimmer patientlyexplained; "and while we could appropriate that amount from ourrespective concerns, we ought not to weaken our capital, particularlyas financial affairs throughout the country are so unsettled. This isnot a brisk commercial year, nor can it be. "

"Yes, " admitted Bobby, "I've heard something of all this hard-timestalk. I know Nick Allstyne sold his French racer, and Nick's supposedto be worth no end of money. "

"Exactly, " agreed Mr. Trimmer dryly. "This sixty thousand dollars'worth of stock, Mr. Burnit, I am quite sure that I can place withimmediate purchasers, and if you will leave the matter to me I canhave it all represented in our next meeting without any bother at allto you. "

"Very kind of you, I am sure, " agreed Bobby, thankful that thistrifling detail was not to bore him. 

And so it was that the Burnit-Trimmer Merchandise Corporation wasincorporated at five hundred and sixty thousand dollars. It wasconsiderably later when Bobby realized the significance of the factthat the subscribers to the additional capitalization consisted of Mr. Trimmer's son, his son-in-law, his head bookkeeper, his confidentialsecretary and his cousin, all of whom had also been minorstock-holders in the concern of Trimmer and Company. 

It was upon the day preceding the first stock-holders' meeting of thereorganized company that Bobby, quite proud of the fact that he hadacted independently of them, made the formal announcement to Johnsonand Applerod that the great consolidation had been effected. 

"Beginning with to-morrow morning, Mr. Johnson, " said he to thatworthy, "the John Burnit Store will be merged into the Burnit-TrimmerMerchandise Corporation, and Mr. Trimmer will doubtless send hissecretary to confer with you about an adjustment of the clericalwork. "

"Yes, sir, " said Mr. Johnson dismally, and rose to open the filingcase behind him. With his hand in the case he paused and turned a mostwoebegone countenance to the junior Burnit. "We shall be veryregretful, Mr. Applerod and myself, to lose our positions, sir, " hestated. "We have grown up with the business from boyhood. "

"Nonsense!" exploded Applerod. "We would be regretful if that were tooccur, but there is nothing of the sort possible. Why, Mr. Burnit, Ithink this consolidation is the greatest thing that ever happened. I've been in favor of it for years; and as for its losing me myposition--Pooh!" and he snapped his fingers. 

"Applerod is quite right, Mr. Johnson, " said Bobby severely. "Nothingof the sort is contemplated. Yourself and Mr. Applerod are to remainwith me as long as fair treatment and liberal pay and personalattachment can induce you to do so. "

"Thank you, sir, " said Mr. Johnson dryly, but he shook his head, andfrom the file produced one of the familiar gray envelopes. 

Bobby eyed it askance as it came toward him, and winced as he saw theinscription. He was beginning to dread these missives. They seemed tofollow him about, to menace him, to give him a constant feeling ofguilt. Nevertheless, he took this one quite calmly and walked into hisown room. It was addressed:

 _To My Son, Upon the Occasion of His Completing a Consolidation with Silas Trimmer_

and it read:

 "When a man devils you for years to enter a business deal with him, you may rest assured that man has more to gain by it than you have. Aside from his wormwood business jealousy of me, Silas Trimmer has wanted this Grand Street entrance to his store for more than the third of a century; now he has it. He'll have your store next. "

"Look here, Governor, " protested Bobby aloud, to his livelyremembrance of his father as he might have stood in that very room, "Icall this rather rubbing it in. It's a bit unsportsmanlike. It'salmost like laying a trap for a chap who doesn't know the game, " and, rankling with a sense of injustice, he went out to Johnson. 

"I say, Johnson, " he complained, "it's rather my fault for being toostubborn to ask about it, but if you knew that Mr. Trimmer was tryingto work a game on me that was dangerous to the business, why didn'tyou volunteer to explain it to me; to forewarn me and give me a chancefor judgment with all the pros and cons in front of me?"

"From the bottom of my heart, Mr. Burnit, " said Johnson with feeling, "I should like to have done it; but it was forbidden. "

He already had lying before him another of the gray envelopes, andthis he solemnly handed over. It was addressed:

 _To My Son, Upon His Complaining that Johnson Gave Him No Warning Concerning Silas Trimmer_

The message it contained was:

 "It takes hard chiseling to make a man, but if the material is the right grain the tool-marks won't show. If I had wanted you merely to make money, I would have left the business entirely in the hands of Johnson and Applerod. But there is no use to put off pulling a tooth. It only hurts worse in the end. "

When Bobby left the office he felt like walking in the middle of thestreet to avoid alley corners, since he was unable to divine from whatdirection the next brick might come. He had taken the business toheart more than he had imagined that he would, and the very fact ofhis father's having foreseen that he would succumb to thisconsolidation made him give grave heed to the implied suggestion thathe would be a heavy loser by it. He had an engagement with Allstyneand Starlett at the Idlers' that afternoon, but they found him mostpreoccupied, and openly voted him a bore. He called on Agnes Elliston, but learned that she was out driving, and he savagely assured himselfthat he knew who was handling the reins. He dined at the Traders', and, for the first time since he had begun to frequent that place, thecreases in his brow were real. 

Later in the evening he dropped around to see Biff Bates. In the verycenter of the gymnasium he found that gentleman engaged in giving apreliminary boxing lesson to a spider-like new pupil, who was noneother than Silas Trimmer. Responding to Biff's cheerful grin and Mr. Trimmer's sheepish one with what politeness he could muster, Bobbyglumly went home. 

On the next morning occurred the first stock-holders' meeting of theBurnit-Trimmer Merchandise Corporation, which Bobby attended with somefeeling of importance, for, with his twenty-six hundred shares, he wasthe largest individual stock-holder present. That was what hadreassured him overnight: the magic "majority of stock!" Mr. Trimmeronly had twenty-four hundred, and Bobby could swing things as hepleased. His father, omniscient as he was, must certainly have failedto foresee this fact. In his simplicity of such matters and hisgeneral unsuspiciousness, Bobby had not calculated that if theadditional six hundred shares were to vote solidly with Mr. Trimmeragainst him, his twenty-six hundred shares would be confronted bythree thousand, and so rendered paltry. 

Mr. Trimmer was delighted to see young Mr. Burnit. This was a greatoccasion indeed, both for the John Burnit Store and for Trimmer andCompany, and, in the opinion of Mr. Trimmer, his circular smile verymuch in evidence, John Burnit himself would have been proud to seethis day! Mr. Smythe, Mr. Trimmer's son-in-law, also thought it agreat day; Mr. Weldon, Mr. Trimmer's head bookkeeper, thought it agreat day; Mr. Harvey, Mr. Trimmer's confidential secretary, and Mr. U. G. Trimmer, Mr. Silas Trimmer's cousin, shared this pleasantimpression. 

In the beginning the organization was without form or void, as allsuch organizations are, but Mr. Trimmer, having an extremely clearidea of what was to be accomplished, proposed that Mr. Burnit acceptthe chair _pro tem. _--where he would be out of the way. The unanimoussupport which this motion received was quite gratifying to thefeelings of Mr. Burnit, proving at once that his fears had been notonly groundless but ungenerous, and, in accepting the chair, he madethem what he considered a very neat little speech indeed, striving thewhile to escape that circular smile with its diameter of yellow teethand its intersecting crescent of stiff mustache; for he dislikedmeanly to imagine that smile to have a sarcastic turn to-day. At thesuggestion of Mr. Trimmer, Mr. Weldon accepted the post of secretary_pro tem. _ Mr. Trimmer then, with a nicely bound black book in hishand, rose to propose the adoption of the stock constitution andby-laws which were neatly printed in the opening pages of thisminute-book, and in the articles of which he had made some triflingamendments. Mr. Weldon, by request, read these most carefully andconscientiously, making quite plain that the entire working managementof the consolidated stores was to be under the direct charge of ageneral manager and an assistant general manager, who were to beappointed and have their salaries fixed by the board of directors, aswas meet and proper. Gravely the stock-holders voted upon the adoptionof the constitution and by-laws, and, with a feeling of pride, as thesecretary called his name, Bobby cast his first vote in the followingconventional form:

"Aye--twenty-six hundred shares. "

Mr. Trimmer followed, voting twenty-four hundred shares; then Mr. Smythe, three hundred; Mr. Weldon, fifty; Mr. Harvey, fifty; Mr. U. G. Trimmer, fifty; Mr. Thomas Trimmer, whose proxy was held by hisfather, one hundred and fifty; making in all a total of fifty-sixhundred shares unanimously cast in favor of the motion; and Bobby, after having roundly announced the result, felt that he was conductinghimself with vast parliamentary credit and lit a cigarette with muchsatisfaction. 

Mr. Trimmer, twirling his thumbs, displayed no surprise, nor evengratification, when Mr. Smythe almost immediately put him innomination for president. Mr. Weldon promptly seconded thatnomination. Mr. Harvey moved that the nominations for the presidencybe closed. Mr. U. G. Trimmer seconded that motion, which was carriedunanimously; and with no ado whatever Mr. Silas Trimmer was madepresident of the Burnit-Trimmer Merchandise Corporation, Mr. Burnithaving most courteously cast twenty-six hundred votes for him; for wasnot Mr. Trimmer entitled to this honor by right of seniority? Insimilar manner Mr. Burnit, quite pleased, and not realizing that thevice-president of a corporation has a much less active and influentialposition than the night watchman, was elected to the second highestoffice, while Mr. Weldon was made secretary and Mr. Smythe treasurer. Mr. Harvey, Mr. U. G. Trimmer and Mr. Thomas Trimmer were, as a matterof course, elected members of the board of directors, the fourofficers already elected constituting the remaining members of theboard. There seemed but very little business remaining for thestock-holders to do, so they adjourned; then, the members of the boardbeing all present and having waived in writing all formalnotification, the directors went into immediate session, with Mr. Trimmer in the chair and Mr. Weldon in charge of the bright andshining new book of minutes. 

The first move of that body, after opening the meeting in due form, was made by Mr. Harvey, who proposed that Mr. Silas Trimmer beconstituted general manager of the consolidated stores at a salary offifty thousand dollars per year, a motion which was immediatelyseconded by Mr. U. G. Trimmer. 

Bobby was instantly upon his feet. Even with his total lack ofexperience in such matters there was something about this that struckhim as overdrawn, and he protested that fancy salaries should have noplace in the reorganized business until experience had proved that thebusiness would stand it. He was very much in earnest about it, andwanted the subject discussed thoroughly before any such rash step wastaken. The balance of the discussion consisted in one word from Mr. Smythe, echoed by all his fellow-members. 

"Question!" said that gentleman. 

"You have all heard the question, " said Mr. Trimmer calmly. "Those infavor will please signify by saying 'Aye. '"

"Aye!" voted four members of the board as with one scarcely interestedvoice. 

"No!" cried Bobby angrily, and sprang to his feet, his anger confused, moreover, by the shock of finding unsuspected wolves tearing at hisvitals. "Gentlemen, I protest against this action! I----"

Mr. Trimmer pounded on the table with his pencil in lieu of a gavel. 

"The motion is carried. Any other business?"

It seemed that there was. Mr. Harvey proposed that Mr. Smythe be madeassistant general manager at a salary of twenty-five thousand dollarsper year. Again the farce of a ballot and the farce of a protest wasenacted. Where now was the voting power of Bobby's twenty-six hundredshares? In the directors' meeting they voted as individuals, and theywere six against one. Rather indifferently, as if the thing did notamount to much, Mr. Smythe proposed that the selection of a firm namefor advertising and publicity purposes be left to the manager, andthough Bobby voted no as to this proposition on general principles, itseemed of minor importance, in his then bewildered state of mind. After all, the thing which grieved him most just then was to find thatpeople _could_ do these things!

CHAPTER VI

CONSISTING ENTIRELY OF A RAPID SUCCESSION OF MOST PAINFUL SHOCKS

He was still dazed with what had happened, when, the next morning, heturned into the office and found Johnson and Applerod packing-up theirpersonal effects. Workmen were removing letter-files and taking desksout of the door. 

"What's the matter?" he asked, surveying the unwonted confusion inperplexity. 

"The entire office force of the now defunct John Burnit Store has beendismissed, that's all!" blurted Applerod, now the aggrieved one. "Yousold us out, lock, stock and barrel!"

"Impossible!" gasped Bobby. 

Mr. Johnson glumly showed him curt letters of dismissal from Trimmer. 

"Where's mine, I wonder?" inquired Bobby, trying to take his terrificdefeat with sportsmanlike nonchalance. 

"I don't suppose there is any for you, sir, inasmuch as you never hada recognized position to lose, " replied Johnson, not unkindly. "Didthe board of directors elect you to any salaried office?"

"Why, so they didn't!" exclaimed Bobby, and for the first timerealized that no place had been made for him. He had taken it as amatter of course that he was to be a part of the consolidation, andthe omission of any definite provision for him had passed unnoticed. 

The door leading to his own private office banged open, and two menappeared, shoving through it the big mahogany desk turned edgewise. 

"What are they doing?" Bobby asked sharply. 

"Moving out all the furniture, " snapped Applerod with bitter relish. "All the office work, I understand, is to be done in the otherbuilding, and this space is to be thrown into a special cut-glassdepartment. I suppose the new desk is for Mr. Trimmer. "

Furious, choking, Bobby left the office and strode back through thestore. The first floor passageway was already completed between thetwo buildings, and a steady stream of customers was going over thebridge from the old Burnit store into the old Trimmer store. Therewere very few coming in the other direction. He had never been in Mr. Trimmer's offices, but he found his way there with no difficulty, andMr. Trimmer came out of his private room to receive him with all thesuavity possible. In fact, he had been saving up suavity all morningfor this very encounter. 

"Well, what can we do for you this morning, Mr. Burnit?" he wanted toknow, and Bobby, though accustomed to repression as he was, had asudden impulse to drive his fist straight through that false circularsmile. 

"I want to know what provision has been made for me in this newadjustment, " he demanded. 

"Why, Mr. Burnit, " expostulated Mr. Trimmer in much apparent surprise, "you have two hundred and sixty thousand dollars' worth of stock inwhat should be the best paying mercantile venture in this city; youare vice-president, and a member of the board of directors!"

"I have no part, then, in the active management?" Bobby wanted toknow. 

"It would be superfluous, Mr. Burnit. One of the chief advantages ofsuch a consolidation is the economy that comes from condensing theoffice and managing forces. I regretted very much indeed to dismissMr. Johnson and Mr. Applerod, but they are very valuable men andshould have no difficulty in placing themselves advantageously. Infact, I shall be glad to aid them in securing new positions. "

"The thing is an outrage!" exclaimed Bobby with passion. 

"My dear Mr. Burnit, it is business, " said Mr. Trimmer coldly, and, turning, went deliberately into his own room, leaving Bobby standingin the middle of the floor. 

Bobby sprang to that door and threw it open, and Trimmer, who had beensecretly trembling all through the interview, turned to him with aquick pallor overspreading his face, a pallor which Bobby saw anddespised and ignored, and which turned his first mad impulse. 

"I'd like to ask one favor of you, Mr. Trimmer, " said he. "In movingthe furniture out of the John Burnit offices I should be very glad, indeed, if you would order my father's desk removed to my house. It isan old desk and can not possibly be of much use. You may charge itsvalue to my account, please. "

"Nonsense!" said Mr. Trimmer. "I'll have it sent out with pleasure. Isthere anything else?"

"Nothing whatever at present, " said Bobby, trembling with the task ofholding himself steady, and walked out, unable to analyze the bitteremotions that surged within him. 

On the sidewalk, standing beside his automobile, he found Johnson andApplerod waiting for him, and the moment he saw Johnson, cumbered withthe big index-file that he carried beneath his arm, he knew why. 

"Give me the letter, Johnson, " he said with a wry smile, and Johnson, answering it with another equally as grim, handed him a gray envelope. 

Applerod, who had been the first to upbraid him, was now the first torecover his spirits. 

"Never mind, Mr. Burnit, " said he; "businesses and even fortunes havebeen lost before and have been regained. There are still ways to makemoney. "

Bobby did not answer him. He was opening the letter, preparing tostand its contents in much the same spirit that he had often gone tohis father to accept a reprimand which he knew he could not in dignityevade. But there was no reprimand. He read:

 "There's no use in telling a young man what to do when he has been gouged. If he's made of the right stuff he'll know, and if he isn't, no amount of telling will put the right stuff in him. I have faith in you. Bobby, or I'd never have let you in for this goring. 

 "In the meantime, as there will be no dividends on your stock for ten years to come, what with 'improvements, expenses and salaries, ' and as you will need to continue your education by embarking in some other line of business before being ripe enough to accomplish what I am sure you will want to do, you may now see your trustee, the only thoroughly sensible person I know who is sincerely devoted to your interests. Her name is Agnes Elliston. "

"What is the matter?" asked Johnson in sudden concern, and Applerodgrabbed him by the arm. 

"Oh, nothing much, " said Bobby; "a little groggy, that's all. Thegovernor just handed me one under the belt. By the way, boys"--andthey scarcely noted that he no longer said "gentlemen"--"if you havenothing better in view I want you to consider yourselves still in myemploy. I'm going into business again, at once. If you will call at myhouse tomorrow forenoon I'll talk with you about it, " and anxious tobe rid of them he told his driver "Idlers', " and jumped into hisautomobile. 

Agnes! That surely was giving him a solar-plexus blow! Why, what didthe governor mean? It was putting him very much in a kindergartenposition with the girl before whom he wanted to make a betterimpression than before anybody else in all the world. 

It took him a long time to readjust himself to this cataclysm. 

After all, though, was not his father right in this, as he had been ineverything else? Humbly Bobby was ready to confess that Agnes had morebrains and good common sense than anybody, and was altogether aboutthe most loyal and dependable person in all the world, with the singleand sole exception of allowing that splendid looking and unknown chapto hang around her so. They were in the congested down-town districtnow, and as they came to a dead stop at a crossing, Bobby, thoughimmersed in thought, became aware of a short, thick-set man, who, standing at the very edge of the car, was apparently trying to starehim out of countenance. 

"Why, hello, Biff!" exclaimed Bobby. "Which way?"

"Just waiting for a South Side trolley, " explained Biff. "Going overto see Kid Mills about that lightweight go we're planning. "

"Jump in, " said Bobby, glad of any change in his altogether indefiniteprogram. "I'll take you over. "

On the way he detailed to his athletic friend what had been done tohim in the way of business. 

"I know'd it, " said Biff excitedly. "I know'd it from the start. That's why I got old Trimmer to join my class. Made him a specialprice of next to nothing, and got Doc Willets to go around and tellhim he was in Dutch for want of training. Just wait. "

"For what?" asked Bobby, smiling. 

"Till the next time he comes up, " declared Biff vengefully. "Say, doyou know I put that shrimp's hour a-purpose just when there wouldn'tbe a soul up there; and the next time I get him in front of me I'mgoing to let a few slip that'll jar him from the cellar to the attic;and the next time anybody sees him he'll be nothing but splints andcourt-plaster. "

"Biff, " said Bobby severely, "you'll do nothing of the kind. You'llleave one Silas Trimmer to me. Merely bruising his body won't get backmy father's business. Let him alone. "

"But look here, Bobby----"

"No; I say let him alone, " insisted Bobby. 

"All right, " said Biff sullenly; "but if you think there's a trick youcan turn to double cross this Trimmer you've got another think coming. He's sunk his fangs in the business he's been after all his life, andnow you couldn't pry it away from him with a jimmy. You know what Itold you about him. "

"I know, " said Bobby wearily. "But honestly, Biff, did you ever see mego into a game where I was a loser in the end?"

"Not till this one, " confessed Biff. 

"And this isn't the end, " retorted Bobby. 

He knew that when he made such a confident assertion that he hadnothing upon which to base it; that he was talking vaguely and atrandom; but he also knew the intense desire that had arisen in him toreverse conditions upon the man who had waited until the father diedto wrest that father's pride from the son; and in some way he feltcoming strength. In Biff's present frame of conviction Bobby waspleased enough to drop him in front of Kid Mills' obscure abode, andturn with a sudden hungry impulse in the direction of Agnes. At theEllistons', when the chauffeur was about to slow up, Bobby in a panictold him to drive straight on. In the course of half an hour he cameback again, and this time pride alone--fear of what his chauffeurmight think--determined him to stop. With much trepidation he went upto the door. Agnes was just preparing to go out, and she came down tohim in the front parlor. 

"This is only a business call, " he confessed with as much appearanceof gaiety as he could summon under the circumstance. "I've come aroundto see my trustee. "

"So soon?" she said, with quick sympathy in her voice. "I'm _so_sorry, Bobby! But I suppose, after all, the sooner it happened thebetter. Tell me all about it. What was the cause of it?"

"You wouldn't marry me, " charged Bobby. "If you had this never wouldhave happened. "

She shook her head and smiled, but she laid her hand upon his arm anddrew closer to him. 

"I'm afraid it would, Bobby. You might have asked my advice, but Iexpect you wouldn't have taken it. "

"I guess you're right about that, " admitted Bobby; "but if you'd onlymarried me---- Honest, Agnes, when are you going to?"

"I shall not commit myself, " she replied, smiling up at him ratherwistfully. 

"There's somebody else, " declared Bobby, instantly assured by thisevasiveness that the unknown had something to do with the matter. 

"If there were, it would be my affair entirely, wouldn't it?" shewanted to know, still smiling. 

"No!" he declared emphatically. "It would be my affair. But really Iwant to know. Will you, if I get my father's business back?"

"I'll not promise, " she said. "Why, Bobby, the way you put it, youwould be binding me _not_ to marry you in case you _didn't_ get itback!" and she laughed at him. "But let's talk business now. I wasjust starting out upon your affairs, the securing of some bonds forwhich the lawyer I have employed has been negotiating, so you may takeme up there and he will arrange to get you the two hundred and fiftythousand dollars you are to have. It's for a new start, withoutrestrictions except that you are to engage in business with it. That'sall the instructions I have. "

[Illustration: Will you if I get my father's business back?]

"Thanks, " said Bobby, with a gulp. "Honestly, Agnes, it's a shame. It's a low-down trick the governor played to put me in this helplesslybelittled position with you. "

"Why, how strange, " she replied quietly. "I look upon it as a mostgraceful and agreeable position for myself. "

"Oh!" he exclaimed blankly, as it occurred to him just howuncomfortable the situation must be to her, and he reproached himselfwith selfishness in not having thought of this phase of the matterbefore. "That's a fact, " he admitted. "I say, Agnes, I'll say no moreabout that end of it if you don't; and, after all, I'm glad, too. Itgives me a legitimate excuse to see you much oftener. "

"Gracious, no!" she protested. "You fill up every spare moment that Ihave now; but so long as you are here on business this time, let'sattend to business. You may take me up to see Mr. Chalmers. By theway, I want you to meet him, anyhow. You have seen him, I believe, once or twice. He was here one day when you called, and he was walkingwith me in the lobby of the theater when you came in to join us oneevening. "

"Y-e-s, " drawled Bobby, as if he were placing the man with difficulty. 

"The Chalmers' are charming people, " she went on. "His wife isperfectly fascinating. We used to go to school together. They haveonly been married three months, and when they came here to go intobusiness I was very glad to throw such of your father's estate as I amto handle into his hands. Whenever they are ready I want to engineerthem into our set, but they live very quietly now. I know you'll likethem. "

"Oh, I'm sure I will, " agreed Bobby heartily, and his face waspositively radiant, as, for some unaccountable reason, he clutched herhand. She lifted it up beneath his arm, around which, for one ecstaticmoment, she clasped her other hand, and together they went out intothe hall, Bobby, simply driveling in his supreme happiness, allowingher to lead him wheresoever she listed. Still in the joy of knowingthat his one dreaded rival was removed in so pleasant a fashion, hehanded her into the automobile and they started out to see Mr. Chalmers. Their way led down Grand Street, past the John Burnit Store, and with all that had happened still rankling sorely in his mind, Bobby looked up and gave a gasp. Workmen were taking down the plain, dignified old sign of the John Burnit Store from the top of thebuilding, and in its place they were raising up a glittering new one, ordered by Silas Trimmer on the very day Bobby had agreed to go intothe consolidation; and it read:

 "TRIMMER AND COMPANY"

CHAPTER VII

PINK-CHEEKED APPLEROD RUSHES TO THE RESCUE WITH A GOLDEN SCHEME

Agnes had been surprised into an exclamation of dismay by that newsign, but she checked it abruptly as she saw Bobby's face. She coulddivine, but she could not fully know, how that had hurt him; how thepain of it had sunk into his soul; how the humiliation of it hadtingled in every fiber of him. For an instant his breath had stopped, his heart had swelled as if it would burst, a great lump had come inhis throat, a sob almost tore its way through his clenched teeth. Hecaught his breath sharply, his jaws set and his nostrils dilated, thenthe color came slowly back to his cheeks. Agnes, though longing to doso, had feared to lay her hand even upon his sleeve in sympathy lestshe might unman him, but now she saw that she need not have feared. Ithad not weakened him, this blow; it had strengthened him. 

"That's brutal, " he said steadily, though the steadiness was purely amatter of will. "We must change that sign before we do anything else. "

"Of course, " she answered simply. 

Involuntarily she stretched out her small gloved hand, and with ittouched his own. Looking back once more for a fleeting glimpse at theascending symbol of his defeat, he gripped her hand so hard that shealmost cried out with the pain of it; but she did not wince. When hesuddenly remembered, with a frightened apology, and laid her hand uponher lap and patted it, her fingers seemed as if they had beencompressed into a numb mass, and she separated them slowly and withdifficulty. Afterward she remembered that as a dear hurt, after all, for in it she shared his pain. 

While they were still stunned and silent under Silas Trimmer's partingblow, the machine drew up at the curb in front of the building inwhich Chalmers had his office. Chalmers, Bobby found, was a mostagreeable fellow, to whom he took an instant liking. It was strangewhat different qualities the man seemed to possess than when Bobby hadfirst seen him in the company of Agnes. Their business there was verybrief. Chalmers held for Bobby, subject to Agnes' order as trustee, the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in instantlyconvertible securities, and when they left, Bobby had a check for thatamount comfortably tucked in his pocket. 

There was another brief visit to the office of old Mr. Barrister, where Agnes, again as Bobby's trustee, exhibited the papers Chalmershad made out for her, showing that the funds previously left in hercharge had been duly paid over to Bobby as per the provisions of thewill, and thereupon filed her order for a similar amount. Barristerreceived them with an "I told you so" air which amounted almost tosatisfaction. He was quite used to seeing the sons of rich menhastening to become poor men, and he had so evidently classed Bobby asone of the regular sort, that Bobby took quite justifiable umbrage anddecided that if he had any legal business whatever he would put itinto the hands of Chalmers. 

He spent the rest of the day with Agnes and took dinner at theEllistons', where jolly Aunt Constance and shrewd Uncle Dan, ingenuine sympathy, desisted so palpably from their usual joking abouthis "business career, " that Bobby was more ill at ease than if theyhad said all the grimly humorous things which popped into their minds. For that reason he went home rather early, and tumbled into bedresolving upon the new future he was to face to-morrow. 

At least, he consoled himself with a sigh, he was now a man ofexperience. He had learned something of the world. He was not furtherto be hoodwinked. His last confused vision was of Silas Trimmer on hisknees begging for mercy, and the next thing he knew was that some onewas reminding him, with annoying insistency, of the early call he hadleft. 

The world looked brighter that morning, and he was quite hopeful when, in the dim old study, seated at his father's desk and with theportrait of stern old John Burnit frowning and yet shrewdly twinklingdown upon him, he received Johnson, dry and sour looking as if heexpected ill news, and Applerod, bright and radiant as if Fortune'spurse were just about to open to him. 

"Well, boys, " said Bobby cheerily, "we're going to stick righttogether. We're going to start into a new business as soon as we canfind one that suits us, and your employment begins from this minute. We're beginning with a capital of two hundred and fifty thousanddollars, " and rather pompously he spread the check upon the desk. Hispompousness faded in something under fifteen seconds, for it was inabout that length of time that he caught sight of a plain grayenvelope then in the process of emerging from Johnson's pocket. Heaccepted it with something of reluctance, but opened it nevertheless;and this was the message of the late John Burnit:

 _To my Son Upon the Occasion of his Being Intrusted With Real Money_

 "In most cases the difference between spending money and investing it is wholly a matter of speed. Not one man in ten knows when and where and how to put a dollar properly to work; so the only financial education I expect you to get out of an attempt to go into business is a painful lesson in subtraction. "

"This letter, Johnson, is only a delicate intimation from the governorthat I'll make another blooming ass of myself with this, " commentedBobby, tapping his finger on the check, and placing the letter facedownward beside it, where he eyed it askance. 

"A quarter of a million!" observed Applerod, rolling out the amountwith relish. "A great deal can be done with two hundred and fiftythousand dollars, you know. "

"That's just the point, " observed Bobby with a frown of perplexity, directed alternately to the faithful gentlemen who for upward ofthirty years had been his father's right and left bowers. "What am Ito do with it? Johnson, what would you do with two hundred and fiftythousand dollars?"

"Lose it, " confessed stooped and bloodless Johnson. "I never made adollar out of a dollar in my life. "

"What would you do with it, Applerod?"

Mr. Applerod, scarcely able to contain himself, had been eagerlyawaiting that question. 

"Purchase, improve and market the Westmarsh Addition, " he saidpromptly, expanding fully two inches across his already rotund chest. 

"What?" snorted Johnson, and cast upon his workmate a look ofwithering scorn. "Are you still dreaming about the possibilities ofthat old swamp?"

"To be sure it is a swamp, " admitted Mr. Applerod with some heat. "Doyou suppose you could buy one hundred and twenty acres of directlyaccessible land, almost at the very edge of the crowded city limits, at two hundred dollars an acre if it wasn't swamp land?" he demanded. "Why, Mr. Burnit, it is the opportunity of a lifetime!"

"How much capital would be needed?" asked Bobby, gravely assuming thecallous, inquisitorial manner of the ideal business man. 

"Well, I've managed to buy up twenty acres out of my savings, andthere are still one hundred acres to be purchased, which will taketwenty thousand dollars. But this is the small part of it. Drainage, filling and grading is to be done, streets and sidewalks ought to beput down, a gift club-house, which would serve at first as an office, would be a good thing to build, and the thing would have to be mostthoroughly advertised. I've figured on it for years, and it wouldrequire, all told, about a two-hundred-thousand investment. "

"And what would be the return?" asked Bobby without blinking at thesebig figures, and proud of his attitude, which, while conservative, wasstill one of openness to conviction. 

"Figure it out for yourself, " Mr. Applerod invited him with muchenthusiasm. "We get ten building lots to the acre, turning one hundredand twenty acres into one thousand two hundred lots. Improved sites atany point surrounding this tract can not be bought for less thantwenty-five dollars per front foot. Corner lots and those in the bestlocations would bring much more, but taking the average price at onlysix hundred dollars per lot, we would have, as a total return for theinvestment, seven hundred and twenty thousand dollars!"

"In how long?" Bobby inquired, not allowing himself to become in theslightest degree excited. 

"One year, " announced the optimistic Mr. Applerod with conviction. 

Mr. Johnson, his lips glued tightly together in one firm, thin, straight line across his face, was glaring steadfastly at the cornerof the ceiling, permitting no expression whatever to flicker in hiseyes; noting which, Bobby turned to him with a point-blank question:

"What do you think of this opportunity, Mr. Johnson?" he asked. 

Mr. Johnson glared quickly at Mr. Applerod. 

"Tell him, " defied that gentleman. 

"I think nothing whatever of it!" snapped Mr. Johnson. 

"What is your chief ground of objection?" Bobby wanted to know. 

Again Mr. Johnson glared quickly at Mr. Applerod. 

"Tell him, " insisted that gentleman with an outward wave of bothhands, expressive of his intense desire to have every secret of hisown soul and of everybody's else laid bare. 

"I will, " said Johnson. "Your father, a dozen times in my own hearing, refused to have anything to do with the scheme. "

Bobby turned accusing eyes upon Applerod, who, though red of face, wasstill strong of assertion. 

"Mr. Burnit never declined on any other grounds than that he alreadyhad too many irons in the fire, " he declared. "Tell him that, too, Johnson!"

"It was only his polite way of putting it, " retorted Mr. Johnson. 

"John Burnit was noted for his polite way of putting his businessconclusions, " snapped Applerod in return, whereat Bobby smiled withgleeful reminiscence, and Mr. Johnson smiled grimly, albeitreluctantly, and Mr. Applerod smiled triumphantly. 

"I can see the governor doing it, " laughed Bobby, and dismissed thematter. "Mr. Johnson, as a start in business we may as well turn thisstudy into a temporary office. Take this check down to the CommercialBank, please, and open an account. You already have power of attorneyfor my signature. Procure a small set of books and open them. Make outfor me against this account at the Commercial a check for tenthousand. Mr. Applerod, kindly reduce your swamp proposition to paperand let me have it by to-morrow. I'll not promise that I will doanything with it, but it would be only fair to examine it. "

With these crisp remarks, upon the decisiveness of which Bobby pridedhimself very much, he left the two to open business for him under thesupervision of the portrait of stern but humor-given old John Burnit. 

"Applerod, " said Johnson indignantly, his lean frame almost quivering, "it is a wonder to me that you can look up at that picture and reflectthat you are trying to drag John Burnit's son into this fool scheme. "

"Johnson, " said Mr. Applerod, puffing out his cheeks indignantly, "youwere given the first chance to advise Mr. Robert what he should dowith his money, and you failed to do so. This is a magnificentbusiness opportunity, and I should consider myself very remiss in myduty to John Burnit's son if I failed to urge it upon him. "

Mr. Johnson picked up the letter that Bobby, evidently not caringwhether they read it or not, had left behind him. He ran through itwith a grim smile and handed it over to Applerod as his best retort. 

At the home of Agnes Elliston Bobby's car stopped almost as a matterof habit, and though the hour was a most informal one he walked up thesteps as confidently as if he intended opening the door with alatch-key; for since Agnes was become his trustee, Bobby had awakened, overnight, to the fact that he had a proprietary interest in her whichcould not be denied. 

Agnes came down to meet him in a most ravishing morning robe of palegreen, a confection so stunning in conjunction with her gold-browneyes and waving brown hair and round white throat that Bobby wasforced to audible comment upon it. 

"Cracking!" said he. "I suppose that if I hadn't had nerve enough topop in here unexpectedly before noon I wouldn't have seen that gownfor ages. "

It was Aunt Constance, the irrepressible, who, leaning over the stairrailing, sank the iron deep into his soul. 

"It was bought at Trimmer and Company's, Grand Street side, Bobby, "she informed him, and with this Parthian shot she went back throughthe up-stairs hall, laughing. 

"Ouch!" said Bobby. "That was snowballing a cripple, " and he wasreally most woebegone about it. 

"Never mind, Bobby, you have still plenty of chance to win, " comfortedAgnes, who, though laughing, had sympathetic inkling of that sore spotwhich had been touched. He seemed so forlorn, in spite of his big, good-natured self, that she moved closer to him and unconsciously puther hand upon his arm. It was too much for him in view of the way shelooked, and, suddenly emboldened, he did a thing the mere thought ofwhich, under premeditation, would have scared him into a frappédperspiration. He placed his hands upon her shoulders, and, drawing hertoward him, bent swiftly down to kiss her. For a fleeting instant shedrew back, and then Bobby had the surprise of his life, for her warmlips met his quite willingly, and with a frank pressure almost equalto his own. She sprang back from him at once with sparkling eyes, buthe had no mind to follow up his advantage, for he was dazed. It hadleft him breathless, amazed, incredulous. He stood for a full minute, his face gone white with the overwhelming wonder of this thing thathad happened to him, and then the blunt directness which was part ofhis inheritance from his father returned to him. 

"Well, anyhow, we're to be engaged at last, " he said. 

"No, " she rebuked him, with a sudden flash of mischief; "that wasperfectly wicked, and you mustn't do it again. "

"But I will, " he said, advancing with heightened color. 

"You mustn't, " she said firmly, and although she did not recedefarther from him he stopped. "You mustn't make it hard for us, Bobby, "she warned him. "I'm under promise, too; and that's all I can tell younow. "

"The governor again, " groaned Bobby. "I suppose that I'm not to talkto you about marrying, nor you to listen, until I have proved my rightand ability to take care of you and your fortune and mine. Is thatit?"

She smiled inscrutably. 

"What brings you at this unearthly hour?" she asked by way of evasion. "Some business pretext, I'll be bound. "

"Of course it is, " he assured her. "This morning you are strictly inthe rôle of my trustee. I want you to look at some property. "

"But I have an appointment with my dressmaker. "

"The dressmaker must wait. "

"What a warning!" she laughed. "If you would order a mere--a mereacquaintance around so peremptorily, what would you do if you weremarried?"

"I'd be the boss, " announced Bobby with calm confidence. 

"Indeed?" she mocked, and started into the library. "You'd askpermission first, wouldn't you?"

"Where are you going?" he queried in return, and grinned. 

"To telephone my dressmaker, " she admitted, smiling, and realizing, too, that it was not all banter. 

"I told you to, remember, " asserted Bobby, with a strange new sense ofmasterfulness which would not down. 

When she came down again, dressed for the trip, he was still in thatdazed elation, and it lasted through their brisk ride to the faroutskirts of the city, where, at the side of a watery marsh thatextended for nearly a mile along the roadway, he halted. 

"This is it, " waving his hand across the dismal waste. 

"It!" she repeated. "What?"

"The property that it was suggested I buy. "

"No wonder your father thought it necessary to appoint a trustee, " washer first comment. "Why, Bobby, what on earth could you do with it?It's too large for a frog farm and too small for a summer resort, " andonce more she turned incredulous eyes upon the "property. "

Dark, oily water covered the entire expanse, and through it emerged, here and there, clumps of dank vegetation, from the nature anddispersement of which one could judge that the water varied from oneto three feet in depth. Higher ground surrounded it on all sides, andthe urgent needs of suburban growth had scattered a few small, cheapcottages, here and there, upon the hills. 

"It doesn't seem very attractive until you consider those houses, "Bobby confessed. "You must remember that the city hasn't room to grow, and must take note that it is trying to spread in this direction. Wouldn't a fellow be doing a rather public-spirited thing, and one inwhich he might take quite a bit of satisfaction, if he drained thatswamp, filled it, laid out streets and turned the whole stretch into acluster of homes in place of a breeding-place for fevers?"

"You talk just like a civic improvement society, " she said, laughing. 

"We did have a chap lecturing on that down at the club a few nightsago, " he admitted, "and maybe I have picked up a bit of the talk. Butwouldn't it be a good thing, anyhow?"

"Oh, I quite approve of it, now that I see your plan, " she agreed;"but could it be made to pay?"

"Well, " he returned with a grave assumption of that businesslike airhe had recently been trying to copy down at the Traders' Club, "thereare one hundred and twenty acres in the tract. I can buy it for twohundred dollars an acre, and sell each acre, in building lots, forfull six hundred. It seems to me that this is enough margin to carryout the needed improvements and make the marketing of it worth while. What do you think of it?"

They both gazed out over that desolate expanse and tried to picture itdotted with comfortable cottages, set down in grassy lawns thatbordered on white, clean streets, and the idea of the transformationwas an attractive one. 

"It looks to me like a perfectly splendid idea, " Agnes admitted. "Iwonder what your father would have thought of it. "

"Well, " confessed Bobby a trifle reluctantly, "this very propositionwas presented to him several times, I believe, but he always declinedto go into it. "

"Then, " decided Agnes, so quickly and emphatically that it startledhim, "don't touch it!"

"Oh, but you see, " he reminded her, "the governor couldn't go intoeverything that was offered him, and to this plan he never urged anyobjection but that he had too many irons in the fire. "

"I wouldn't touch it, " declared Agnes, and that was her final word inthe matter, despite all his arguments. If John Burnit had declined togo into it, no matter for what reason, the plan was not worthconsidering. 

CHAPTER VIII

BOBBY SUCCEEDS IN SNAPPING A BARGAIN FROM UNDER SILAS TRIMMER'S NOSE

Still undecided, but carrying seriously the thought that he mustoverlook no opportunity if he was to prove himself the successful manthat his father had so ardently wished him to become, Bobby droppedinto the Idlers' Club for lunch, where Nick Allstyne and PayneWinthrop hailed him as one returned from the dead. 

"Just the chap, " declared Nick. "Stan Rogers has written me that I'mto scrape the regular crowd together and come up to his new Canadianlodge for a hunt. Stag affair, you know. Real sport and no pink-coatpretense. "

"Sorry, Nick, " said Bobby, pluming himself a trifle upon hissteadfastness to duty, "but I know what Stan's stag affairs are like. It would mean two weeks at least, and I could not spare that much timefrom the city. "

"Business again!" groaned Payne in mock dismay. "This grasping greedfor gain is blighting the most promising young men of our avariciouscountry. Why, it's positively shameful, Bobby, when your father musthave left you over three million. "

"Two hundred and fifty thousand, so far as I'm allowed to inquire justnow, " corrected Bobby; "and I'm ordered to go into business with thatand prove that I'm not such a blithering idiot that I can't be trustedwith the rest of it, whatever there is. "

"But I thought you'd had your trial by fire and pulled out of it, "interposed Nick. "I heard that you had sold your interests orsomething, and when I saw a new sign over the store I knew that it wastrue. Sensible thing, I call it. "

"Sensible!" winced Bobby. "You're allowing me a mighty pleasant wayout of it, but the fact of the matter is that I lost in such astinging way I'm bound to get back into the game and do nothing elseuntil I win, " and he explained how Silas Trimmer had performed uponhim a neat and delicate operation in commercial surgery. 

They were properly sympathetic; not that they cared much aboutbusiness, but if Bobby had entered any game whatsoever in which he hadbeen soundly beaten, they could quite understand his desire to stay inthat game until he could show points on the right side. 

"Nevertheless, " Nick urged, "you ought to take a little breathingspell in between. "

All through lunch, and through the game of billiards which followed, they strove to make him see the error of his ways, but Bobby wasobdurate, and at last they gave him up as a bad job, with the graveprediction that later he would find himself nothing more nor less thana beast of burden. When he left them Bobby was surprised at himself. For a time he had feared that in his declaration of such closeattention to business he might be posing; but he found that to miss astag hunting party, which heretofore had been one of his keenestdelights, weighed upon him not at all; found actually that he wouldfar rather stay in the city to engage in the game of finance which wasunfolding before him! He came upon this surprising discovery while hewas on his way across to a side street, where, on the fourth floor ofa store and warehouse building, he let himself in at a wide door witha latch-key and entered the gymnasium of Biff Bates. That gentleman, in trunks, sweater and sandals, was padding all alone around andaround the edge of the hall at a steady jog, which, after twenty solidminutes, had left no effect whatever upon his respiration. 

"Getting fat as a butcher again, " he announced as he trotted steadilyaround to Bobby, suddenly stopping short with an expansive grin acrosshis wide face and a handshake that it took an athlete to withstand. "Got to cut it down or it'll put me on the blink. What's the bestthing you know, chum?"

"How does this hit you?" asked Bobby, taking from his pocket the checkJohnson had given him that morning. 

Mr. Bates looked at it with his hands behind him. 

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, " he said to the slip of paper, nodding profoundly. 

"Oh, everybody's friendly to these, " said Bobby, indorsing the check. "It is for the new gymnasium, " he explained. "Now, partner, turn looseand monopolize the physical training business of this city. "

"Partner!" scorned Mr. Bates. "Look here, old pal, there's only oneway I'll take this big ticket, and that is that you'll drag down yoursplit of the profits. "

"But don't I on this place?" protested Bobby. 

"Nit!" retorted Mr. Bates with infinite scorn. "You put them rightback into the business, but that don't go any more. If we start thisbig joint it's got to be partners right, see? Or else take back thiswealthy handwriting. I don't guess I want it, anyhow. From pastperformances you need all the money in the world, and ten thousandsimoleons will put a crimp in any wad. "

"No, " laughed Bobby; "you're saving it for me when you take it. I'vejust read a very nice note, left for me by the governor, that I'll bea fool and lose anyhow. "

Mr. Bates grinned. 

"You will, all right, all right, if you're going into business, " headmitted, and stuffed the check in the upturned cuff of his sweater. "After these profit-and-loss artists get your goat on all the startsyour old man left you, maybe I'll have to put up the eats and sleepsfor you anyhow; huh?" and Mr. Bates laughed with keen enjoyment ofthis delicately expressed idea. "How are you going to divorce yourselffrom the rest of it, Bobby?"

"I'm not quite sure, " said Bobby. "You know that big stretch of swampland, out on the Millberg Road?"

"Where Paddy Dolan fell in and died from drinkin' too much water? SureI do. "

"Well, it has been suggested to me that I buy it, drain it, fill it, put in paved streets, cut it up into building lots and sell it. "

"And build it full of these pale yellow shacks that the honest workingslob buys with seventeen years of his wages, and then loses theshack?" Biff incredulously wanted to know. 

"You guessed wrong, Biff, " laughed Bobby. "Just selling the lots willbe enough for me. What do you think of it?"

"I don't know, " said Mr. Bates thoughtfully. "I know they frame upsuch stunts and boost 'em strong in the papers, and if any of thesereal-estate sharps is working just for their healths they've beenstung from all I've seen of 'em. But the main point is, who's the guythat's tryin' to lead you to it?"

"Oh, that part's all right, " replied Bobby with perfect assurance. "The man who wants me to finance this, and who has already bought someof the land, was one of my father's right-hand men for nearly thirtyyears. "

"Then that's all right, " agreed Mr. Bates. "But say!" he suddenlyexclaimed as a new thought struck him; "it's a wonder this right-mittmut of your father's didn't make the old man fall for it long ago, ifit's such a hot muffin. "

"He did try it, " confessed Bobby with hesitation for the second timethat day; "but the governor always complained that he had too manyother irons in the fire. "

"He did, _did_ he?" Mr. Bates wanted to know, fixing accusing eyes onBobby. "Then don't be the fall guy for any other touting. Your old manknew this business dope from Sheepshead Bay to Oakland. You take itfrom me that this tip ain't the one best bet. "

Bobby left the gymnasium with a certain degree of dissatisfaction, notonly with Mr. Applerod's scheme but with the fact that wherever hewent his father's business wisdom was thrown into his teeth. Thatevening, drawn to the atmosphere into which events had plunged him, hedined at the Traders' Club. As he passed one of the tables SilasTrimmer leered up at him with the circular smile, which, bisected by arow of yellow teeth and hooded with a bristle of stubby mustache, hadnow come to aggravate him almost past endurance. To-night it made himapproach his dinner with vexation, and, failing to find the man he hadsought, he finished hastily. As he went out, Silas Trimmer, thoughlooking straight in his direction, did not seem to be at all aware ofBobby's approach. He was deep in a business discussion with hispriggish son-in-law. 

"It's a great opportunity, " he was loudly insisting. "If I can securethat land I'll drain and improve it and cut it up into building lots. This city is ripe for a suburban boom. "

That settled it with Bobby. No matter what arguments there might be tothe contrary, if Silas Trimmer had his eye on that piece of property, Bobby wanted it. 

Applerod, though eagerness brought him early, had no sooner enteredthe study next morning than Bobby, who was already dressed forbusiness and who had his machine standing outside the door, met himbriskly. 

"Keep your hat on, Applerod, " he ordered. "We'll go right around andbuy the rest of that property at once. "

"I thought those figures I left last night would convince you, " beamedMr. Applerod. 

There is no describing the delight and pride with which thathighly-gratified gentleman followed the energetic young Mr. Burnit tothe curb, nor the dignity with which, a few minutes later, he led theway into the office of one Thorne, real-estate dealer. 

"Mr. Thorne, Mr. Robert Burnit, " said Mr. Applerod, hastening straightto business. "Mr. Burnit has come around to close the deal for thatWestmarsh property. "

Mr. Thorne was suavity itself as he shook hands with Mr. Burnit, butthe most aching regret was in his tone as he spoke. 

"I'm very sorry indeed, Mr. Burnit, " he stated; "but that property, which, by the way, seems very much in demand, passed out of my handsyesterday afternoon. "

"To whom?" Mr. Applerod excitedly wanted to know. "I think you mighthave let us have time to turn around, Thorne. I spoke about it to youyesterday morning, you know, and said that I felt quite hopeful Mr. Burnit would buy it. "

"I know, " said Mr. Thorne, politely but coldly; "and I told you at thetime we talked about it that I never hold anything in the face of abona fide offer. "

"But who has it?" Bobby insisted, more eager now to get it, since ithad slipped away from him, than ever before. 

"The larger portion of it, the ninety-two acres adjoining Mr. Applerod's twenty, " Mr. Thorne advised him, "was taken up by Miles, Eddy and Company. The north eight acres are owned by Mr. SilasTrimmer, and I am quite positive, from what Mr. Trimmer told me, nottwo hours later, that this parcel is not for sale. "

Bobby's heart sank. Eight acres of that land had already been gobbledup by Silas Trimmer, and, no doubt, that astute and energetic businessgentleman was now after the balance. 

"Where is the office of Miles, Eddy and Company?" Bobby asked, with acrispness that pleased him tremendously as he used it. 

"Twenty-six Plum Street, " Mr. Thorne advised him. 

"Thanks, " said Bobby, and whirled out of the door, followed by thedisconsolate Applerod. 

At the office of Miles, Eddy and Company better luck awaited them. 

Yes, that firm had secured possession of the Westmarsh ninety-twoacres. Yes, the property was listed for sale, having been boughtstrictly for speculative purposes. And its figure? The price was nowthree hundred dollars per acre. 

"I'll take it, " said Bobby. 

There was positive triumph in his voice as he announced this decision. He would show Silas Trimmer that he was awake at last, that he was notto be beaten in every deal. 

"Twenty-seven thousand six hundred dollars, " said Bobby, figuring theamount on a pad he picked up from Mr. Eddy's desk. "Very well. Allowme to use your telephone a moment. Mr. Chalmers, " directed Bobby whenhe had his new lawyer on the wire, "kindly get into communication withMiles, Eddy and Company and look up the title on ninety-two acres ofWestmarsh property which they have for sale. If the title is clear theprice is to be three hundred dollars per acre, for which amount youwill have a check, payable to your order, within half an hour. "

Then to Johnson--biting his pen-handle in Bobby's study and wonderingwhere his principal and Applerod could be at this hour--he telephonedto deliver a check in the amount of twenty-seven thousand six hundreddollars to Mr. Chalmers. Never, since he had been plunged into"business, " had Bobby been so elated with himself as when he walkedfrom the office of Miles, Eddy and Company; and, to keep up the goodwork, as soon as he reached the hall he turned to Applerod with acrisp, ringing voice, which was the product of that elation. 

"Now for an engineer, " he said. 

"Already as good as secured, " Mr. Applerod announced, triumphant thatevery necessity had been anticipated. "Jimmy Platt, son of an oldneighbor of mine. Fine, smart boy, and knows all about the Westmarshproposition. Bless you, I figured on this with him every vacationduring his schooling!"

An hour later, Bobby, Mr. Applerod and the secretly jubilant JimmyPlatt had sped out Westmarsh way, and were inspecting the hundred andtwelve acres of swamp which the new firm of Burnit and Applerod heldbetween them. 

"It's a fine job, " said the young engineer, coveting anew thetremendous task as he bent upon it an admiring professional eye. "Thistime next year you won't recognize the place. It's a noble thing, Mr. Burnit, to turn an utterly useless stretch of swamp like this intohabitable land. Have you secured the entire tract?"

"Unfortunately, no, " Bobby confessed with a frown. "The extreme northeight acres are owned by another party. "

"And when you drain your property, " mused Jimmy, smiling, "you willdrain his. "

"Not if I can help it, " declared Bobby emphatically. 

"You must come to some arrangement before you begin, " warned theengineer with the severe professional authority common to the quiteyoung. Already, however, he was trying to grow regulation engineer'swhiskers; also he immediately planned to get married upon the proceedsof this big job, which, after years of chimerical dreaming, had becometoo real, almost, to be believed. "Perhaps you could get the owner tostand his proportionate share of the expense of drainage. "

Bobby smiled at the suggestion but made no other answer. He knew SilasTrimmer, or thought that he did, and the idea of Silas bearing aportion of a huge expense like this, when he could not be forced toshoulder it, struck him as distinctly humorous. 

CHAPTER IX

AGNES DELIVERS BOBBY A NOTE FROM OLD JOHN BURNIT--IN A GRAY ENVELOPE

That night, at the Traders' Club, Bobby was surprised when Mr. Trimmerwalked over to his table and dropped his pudgy trunk and his leanlimbs into a chair beside him. His yellow countenance was creased withingratiating wrinkles, and the smile behind his immovable mustachebecame of perfectly flawless circumference as his muddy black eyespeered at Bobby through thick spectacles. It seemed to Bobby thatthere was malice in the wrinkles about those eyes, but the address ofMr. Trimmer was most conciliatory. 

"I have a fuss to pick with you, young man, " he said with clumsyjoviality. "You beat me upon the purchase of that Westmarsh property. Very shrewd, indeed, Mr. Burnit; very like your father. I suppose thatnow, if I wanted to buy it from you, I'd have to pay you a prettyadvance. " And he rubbed his hands as if to invite the opening ofnegotiations. 

"It is not for sale, " said Bobby, stiffening; "but I might consider aproposition to buy your eight acres. " He offered this suggestion withreluctance, for he had no mind to enter transactions of any sort withSilas Trimmer. Still, he recalled to himself with a sudden yielding toduty, business is business, and his father would probably have wavedall personal considerations aside at such a point. 

"Mine _is_ for sale, " offered Silas, a trifle too eagerly, Bobbythought. 

"How much?" he asked. 

"A thousand dollars an acre. "

"I won't pay it, " declared Bobby. 

"Well, " replied Mr. Trimmer with a deepening of that circular smilewhich Bobby now felt sure was maliciously sarcastic, "by the time itis drained it will be worth that to any purchaser. "

"Suppose we drain it, " suggested Bobby, holding both his temper andhis business object remarkably well in hand. "Will you stand yourshare of the cost?"

"It strikes me as an entirely unnecessary expense at present, " saidSilas and smiled again. 

"Then it won't be drained, " snapped Bobby. 

Later in the evening he caught Silas laughing at him, his shouldersheaving and every yellow fang protruding. The next morning, keepingearlier hours than ever before in his life, Bobby was waiting outsideJimmy Platt's door when that gentleman started to work. 

"The first thing you do, " he directed, still with a memory of thataggravating laugh, "I want you to build a cement wall straight acrossthe north end of my Westmarsh property. "

Mr. Platt smiled and shook his head. 

"Evidently you can not buy that north eight acres, and don't intend todrain it, " he commented, stroking sagely the sparse beginning of thoseslow professional whiskers. "It's your affair, of course, Mr. Burnit, but I am quite sure that spite work in engineering can not be made topay. "

"Nevertheless, " insisted Bobby, "we'll build that wall. "

The previous afternoon Jimmy Platt had made a scale drawing of theproperty from city surveys, and now the two went over it carefully, discussing it in various phases for fully an hour, proving estimatesof cost and general feasibility. At the conclusion of that time Bobby, well pleased with his own practical manner of looking into things, telephoned to Johnson and asked for Applerod. Mr. Applerod had not yetarrived. 

"Very well, " said Bobby, "when he comes have him step out and securesuitable offices for us, " and this detail despatched he went out withhis engineer to make a circuit of the property and study its drainagepossibilities. 

From profiles that Platt had made they found the swamp at its upperpoint to be much lower than the level of the river, which ran beyondlow hills nearly a mile away; but the river made a detour, including aconsiderable fall, coming back again to within a scant half-mile ofthe southern end of the tract, where it was much lower than the marsh. Between marsh and river at the south was an immense hill, too steepand rugged for any practical purpose, and this they scaled. 

The west end of the city lay before them crowding close to the riverbank, and already its tentacles had crept around and over the hillsand on past Westmarsh tract. Young Platt looked from river to swamp, his eyes glowing over the possibilities that lay before them. 

"Mr. Burnit, " he announced, after a gravity of thought which he strovehis best to make take the place of experience, "you ought to be ableto buy this hill very cheaply. Just through here we'll construct ourdrainage channel, and with the excavation fill your marsh. It is oneof the neatest opportunities I have ever seen, and I want tocongratulate you upon your shrewdness in having picked out such asplendid investment. "

This, Bobby felt, was praise from Cæsar, and he was correspondinglyelated. 

He did not return to the study until in the afternoon. He foundJohnson livid with abhorrence of Applerod's gaudy metamorphosis. Thatgentleman wore a black frock-coat, a flowered gray waistcoat, pin-striped light trousers, shining new shoes, sported a gold-headedcane, and on the table was the glistening new silk hat which hadreposed upon his snow-white curls. His pink face was beaming as herose to greet his partner. 

"Mr. Burnit, " said he, shaking hands with almost trembling gravity andimportance, "this day is the apex of my life, and I'm happy to havethe son of my old and revered employer as my partner. "

"I hope that it may prove fortunate for both of us, " replied Bobby, repressing his smile at the acquisition of the "make-up" whichApplerod had for years aspired to wear legitimately. 

Johnson, humped over the desk that had once been Bobby's father's, snorted and looked up at the stern portrait of old John Burnit; thenhe drew from the index-file which he had already placed upon the backof that desk a gray-tinted envelope which he handed to Bobby with asilence that was more eloquent than words. It was inscribed:

 _To my Son if he is Fool Enough to Take up With Applerod's Swamp Scheme_

Rather impatiently Bobby tore it open, and on the inside he found:

 "When shrewd men persist in passing up an apparently cinch proposition, don't even try to find out what's the matter with it. In this six-cylinder age no really good opportunity runs loose for twenty-four hours. "

"If the governor had only arranged to leave me his advice beforehandinstead of afterward, " Bobby complained to Agnes Elliston thatevening, "it might have a chance at me. "

"The blow has fallen, " said Agnes with mock seriousness; "but you mustremember that you brought it on yourself. You have complained to _me_of your father's carefully-laid plans for your course in progressivebankruptcy, and he left in my keeping a letter for you covering thatvery point. "

"_Not_ in a gray envelope, I hope, " groaned Bobby. 

"_In_ a gray envelope, " she replied firmly, going across to her owndesk in the library. 

"I had feared, " said Bobby dismally, "that sooner or later I shouldfind he had left letters for me in your charge as well as inJohnson's, but I had hoped, if that were the case, that at least theywould be in pink envelopes. "

She brought to him one of the familiar-looking missives, and Bobby, ashe took it, looked speculatively at the big fireplace, in which, as itwas early fall, comfortable-looking real logs were crackling. 

"Don't do it, Bobby, " she warned him smiling. "Let's have the funtogether, " and she sat beside him on the couch, snuggling close. 

The envelope was addressed:

 _To My Son Upon his Complaining that His Father's Advice Comes too Late!_

He opened it, and together they read:

 "No boy will believe green apples hurt him until he gets the stomach-ache. Knowing you to be truly my son, I am sure that if I gave you advice beforehand you would not believe it. This way you will. "

Bobby smiled grimly. 

"I remember one painful incident of about the time I put onknickerbockers, " he mused. "Father told me to keep away from arat-trap that he had bought. Of course I caught my hand in it threeminutes afterward. It hurt and I howled, but he only looked at mecoldly until at last I asked him to help. He let the thing squeezewhile he asked if a rat-trap hurt. I admitted that it did. Would Ibelieve him next time? I acknowledged that I would, and he opened thetrap. That was all there was to it except the raw place on my hand;but that night he came to my room after I had gone to bed, and laybeside me and cuddled me in his arms until I went to sleep. "

"Bobby, " said Agnes seriously, "not one of these letters but proveshis aching love for you. "

"I know it, " admitted Bobby with again that grim smile. "Which onlygoes to prove another thing, that I'm in for some of the severestdrubbings of my life. I wonder where the clubs are hidden. "

He found one of them late that same night at the Idlers'. ClarenceSmythe, Silas Trimmer's son-in-law, drifted in toward the wee smallhours in an unusual condition of hilarity. He had a Vandyke, had Mr. Smythe, and was one who cherished a mad passion for clothes; also, asan utterly impossible "climber, " he was as cordially hated as Bobbywas liked at the Idlers', where he had crept in "while the window wasopen, " as Nick Allstyne expressed it. Ordinarily he was most prim andpretty of manner, but to-night he was on vinously familiar terms withall the world, and, crowding himself upon Bobby's quiet whist crowd, slapped Bobby joyously on the shoulder. 

"Generous lad, Bobby!" he thickly informed Allstyne and Winthrop andStarlett. "If you chaps have any property you've wanted to unload forhalf a lifetime, here's the free-handed plunger to buy it. "

"How's that?" Bobby wanted to know, guessing instantly at thehumiliating truth. 

"That Westmarsh swamp belonged to Trimmer, " laughed Mr. Smythe, sobubbling with the hugeness of the joke that he could not keep hissecret; "and when Thorne, after pumping your puffy man, told my cleverfather-in-law you wanted it, he promptly bought it from himself in thename of Miles, Eddy and Company and put up the price to three hundredan acre. Besides taking the property off his shoulders you've givenhim nearly a ten-thousand-dollar advance for it. Fine business!"

"Great!" agreed blunt Jack Starlett. "Almost as good a joke asrefusing to pay a poker debt because it isn't legal. "

Bobby smiled his thanks for the shot, but inside he was sick. The gamethey were playing was a parting set-to, for the three others wereleaving in the morning for Stanley's hunt, but Bobby was glad when itwas over. In the big, lonely house he sat in the study for an hourbefore he went to bed, looking abstractedly up at the picture of oldJohn Burnit and worrying over this new development. It cut him to thequick, not so much that he had been made a fool of by "clever"real-estate men, had been led, imbecile-like, to pay an extra hundreddollars per acre for that swamp land, but that the advantage had goneto Silas Trimmer. 

Moreover, why had Silas put a prohibitive valuation upon that northeight acres? Why did he want to keep it? It must be because Silasreally expected that his tract would be drained free of charge, andthat he would thus have the triumph of selling it for an approximatesix thousand dollars an acre in the form of building lots. In the faceof such a conclusion, the thought of the cement wall that he hadordered built was a great satisfaction. 

It was a remarkably open winter that followed, and outdoor operationscould thereby go on uninterrupted. In the office, the pompousApplerod, in his frock-coat and silk hat, ground Johnson's soul togall dust; for he had taken to saying "_Mr. _ Johnson" most formally, and issuing directions with maddening politeness and consideration. Anarrangement had been effected with Applerod, whereby that gentleman, for having suggested the golden opportunity, was to reap the entirebenefit of the improvement on his own twenty acres, Bobby financingthe whole deal and charging Applerod's share of it against hisaccount. Applerod stood thereby to gain about seventy-six thousanddollars over and above the price he had paid for his twenty acres;and, moreover, _Bobby had decided to call the improved tract theApplerod Addition_! When that name began to appear in print, coupledwith flaming advertisements of Applerod's devising, there was gravedanger of the rosy-cheeked old gentleman's losing every button fromevery fancy vest in his possession. 

In the meantime, thoroughly in love with the vast enterprise which hehad projected, Bobby spent his time outdoors, fascinated, unable tofind any peace elsewhere than upon his Titanic labor. His evenings hespent in such social affairs as he could not avoid; with AgnesElliston; with Biff Bates; in an occasional game of billiards at theIdlers'; but his days, from early morning until the evening whistle, he spent amid the clang of pick and shovel, the rattling of the trams, the creaking of the crane. It was an absorbing thing to see thatenormous groove cut down through the big hill, and to watch the growthof the great mounds which grew up out of the marsh. The ditch thatshould drain off all this murky water was, of course, the first thingto be achieved, and, from the base of the hill through which it was tobe cut, the engineer ran a tram bridge straight across the swamp tothe new retaining wall; and from this, with the aid of a huge, long-armed crane which lifted cars bodily from the track, the soil wasdumped on either side as it was removed from the cut. By the latterpart of December the ditch had been completed and connected with thespecial sewer which, by permission of the city, had been built tocarry the overflow to the river, and, the open weather still holding, the stagnant pool which had been a blot upon the landscape for untoldages began to flow sluggishly away, displaced by the earth from thedisappearing hill. 

The city papers were teeming now with the vast energy andpublic-spirited enterprise of young Robert Burnit and Oliver P. Applerod, and there were many indications that the enterprise was tobe a most successful one. Even before they were ready to receive them, applications were daily made for reservations in the new district, andindividual home-seekers began to take Sunday trips out to where thebig undertaking was in progress. 

"You sure have got 'em going, Bobby, " confessed the finally-convincedBiff Bates after a visit of inspection. "Here's where you put thehornet on one Silas Tight-Wad Trimmer all right, all right. But thebones don't roll right that the side bet don't go for Johnson insteadof Applegoat. He's a shine, for me. I think he's all to the canarycolor inside, but this man Johnson's some man if he only had a shellto put it in. Me for him!"

The unexpressed friendship that had sprung up between the taciturnbookkeeper and the loquacious ex-pugilist was both a puzzle and adelight to Bobby, and it was one of his great joys to see themtogether, they not knowing why they liked such companionship, nothaving a single topic of conversation in common, but unconsciouslyenjoying that vague, sympathetic man-soul they found in each other. 

CHAPTER X

AGNES AND BOBBY DISCERN DIAMOND-STUDDED SPURS FOR THE LATTER

About the first of February the filling and grading were finished andthe construction of the streets began, and the middle of March saw thefinal disappearance of everything, except that dark, eight-acre spotof Silas Trimmer's, which might remind one of the tract once known asthe Westmarsh. In its place lay a broad, yellow checker-board, formedby intersecting streets of asphalt edged with cement pavements, and inthe center, at the crossing of broad Burnit and Applerod Avenues, there arose, over a spot where once frogs had croaked and mosquitoesclustered in crowds, a pretty club-house, which was later to bedonated to the suburb; and a great satisfaction fell upon the soul ofBobby Burnit like a benediction. 

Also one Oliver P. Applerod added two full inches to his strut. Heseldom came out to the scene of actual operations, for there was nonethere except workmen to see his frock-coat and silk hat; butoccasionally, from a sense of duty inextricably mingled withself-assertiveness, he paid a visit of inspection, and upon one ofthese his eyes were confronted by a huge new board sign, visible forhalf a mile, that overlooked the Applerod Addition from the hills tothe north. It bore but two words: "Trimmer's Addition. " Applerod, holding his broadcloth tight about him to keep it from yellowcontamination as a car rumbled by, looked and wiped his glasses andlooked again, then, highly excited, he called Bobby to him. 

"Why didn't you tell me of this?" he demanded, pointing to the sign. 

Bobby, happy in sweater and high boots and liberal decorations ofclay, only laughed. 

"The sign went up only yesterday, " he stated. 

"But it is competition. Unfair competition! He is stealing ourthunder, " protested Applerod. 

"He has a perfect right to lay out a subdivision if he wants, " saidBobby. "But don't worry, Applerod. I've been over there and the thingis a joke. The tract is one-fourth the size of ours, it is uphill anddownhill, only a little grading is being done, streets are cut throughbut not paved, and a few cheap board sidewalks are being put down. He's had to pay a lot more for his land than we have, and can not sellhis lots any cheaper. "

"There's no telling what Silas Trimmer will do, " said Applerod, shaking his head. 

"Nonsense, " said Bobby; "there is no chance that people will pass byour lots and buy one of his. "

Applerod walked away unconvinced. Had it been any one else than SilasTrimmer who had set up this opposition he would not have minded somuch, but Applerod had come to have a mighty fear of John Burnit'sancient enemy, and presently he came back to Bobby more panic-strickenthan ever. 

"I'm going to sell my interest in the Applerod Addition the minute Ifind a buyer, " he declared, "and I'd advise you to do the same. "

"Don't be foolish, " counseled Bobby, frowning. "You _can't_ lose. "

"But man!" quavered Applerod. "I have four thousand dollars of my owncash, all I've been able to scrape together in a lifetime, tied up inthis thing, and I _mustn't_ lose!"

Bobby regarded his father's old confidential clerk more in sorrow thanin anger. He was not used to dealing with men of any age so utterlylacking in gameness. 

"Four thousand, " he repeated, then he looked across his bigchecker-board. "I'll give you ten thousand for it right now. "

"What!" objected Applerod, aghast. "Why, Burnit, the work is nearlydone and I have already in sight seventy-six thousand dollars of clearprofit over my investment. "

Bobby did not remind Applerod that his four thousand dollarsrepresented only a trifling part of the investment required to yieldthis seventy-six thousand dollars' profit. Yet, after all, there wasno flaw in Applerod's commercial reasoning. 

"I didn't expect you to accept it, " replied Bobby. "If you weredetermined to get out, however, you've had an offer of six thousandprofit, with no risk. "

"I'd be crazy, " declared Applerod. "I can get a better price thanthat. "

Bobby was thoughtful for an hour after Applerod had left him; then hehurried into the club-house and telephoned to Chalmers. This was inthe forenoon. In the afternoon Applerod was served with an injunctionbased upon an indivisibility of interest, restraining him fromdisposing of his share; and in his anger he let it slip out that hehad already been trying to open negotiations with Trimmer!

"Honestly, it hurts!" said Bobby wearily, telling of the incident toAgnes that night. "I didn't know there were so many unsportsmanlikepeople. "

"I think that is precisely what your father wanted you to find out, "she observed. 

"I don't want to know it, " protested Bobby. "I'd stay much happier tobelieve that everybody in the world was of the right sort. "

She shook her head. 

"No, Bobby, " she said gently; "you have to know that there is theother kind, in order properly to appreciate truth and honor andloyalty. "

"I could almost believe I was in a Sunday-school class, " grinnedBobby. "No wonder it's snowing. "

Agnes looked out of the window with a cry of delight. Those floatingflakes were the very first snow of the season; but they were by nomeans the last. The winter, delayed, but apparently all the moreviolent for that very reason, burst suddenly upon the city, stoppingthe finishing touches on both suburban additions. Came rain and sleetand snow, and rain and sleet and snow again, then biting cold thatsank deep into the ground and sealed it as if with a crust of iron. March, that had come in like a lamb, went out like a lion, and thelion raged through April and into May. Then, as suddenly as it hadcome, the belated winter passed away and the warm sun beat down uponthe snow-clad hills and swept them clean. It penetrated into thevalleys and turned them into rivulets, thousands of which poured intothe river and swelled its banks brimming full. The streets of theApplerod Addition were quickly washed with their own white coveringand dried, and immediately with this break-up began the greatadvertising campaign. The papers flamed with full-page and half-pageannouncements of the wonderful home-making opportunity; circulars weremailed to possible home-buyers by the hundred thousand; everystreet-car told of the bargain on striking cards; immense electricsigns blazoned the project by night; sixteen-sheet posters were spreadupon all the bill-boards, and every device known to expert advertisingwas requisitioned. Not one soul within the city or within a radius offifty miles but had kept constantly before him the duty he owed tohimself to purchase a lot in the marvelous Applerod Addition; and nowindeed Oliver P. Applerod, reassured once more, began to reap thefruit of his life's ambitions as prospective buyers thronged to lookat his frock-coat and silk hat. 

June the first was set for the date of the "grand opening, " and thoughit was not to be a month of roses, still the earth looked bright andgay as the time approached, and Bobby Burnit took Agnes out to viewhis coming triumph. This was upon a bright day toward the end of May, when those yellow squares were tempered to a golden green by thetender young grass that had been sown at the completion of thegrading. She had made frequent visits with him through the winter, andnow she gloried with him. 

"It looks fine, Bobby, " she confessed with glowing eyes. "Fine! Itreally seems as if you had won your spurs. "

"Diamond-studded ones!" he exulted. "Why, Agnes, the office isbesieged with requests for allotments. In spite of the fact that wehave over eleven hundred lots for sale at an average price of sixhundred dollars, we're not going to have enough to go around. Thereceipts will be fully seven hundred thousand dollars, and ourcomplete disbursements, by the time we have sold out, will not amountto over two hundred and twenty-five thousand. Of course, I don'tknow--I haven't asked, and you wouldn't tell me if I did--just by whatpromises you are bound, but when I close up this deal you're going tomarry me! That's flat!"

"You mustn't be too sure of anything in this world, Bobby, " she warnedhim, but she turned upon him a smile that made her words but idlebreath. 

CHAPTER XI

BOBBY DISCOVERS AN ENEMY GREATER THAN SILAS TRIMMER

One circumstance only had occurred to give Bobby any anxiety. With thebeginning of the thaw the water in Silas Trimmer's eight acres hadbegun slowly to rise, and he saw with some dismay that by far thelarger part of the great natural basin from which the surface waterhad been supplied to this swamp sloped from the northern end. Nothaving that expanse of one hundred and twenty acres to spread over, itmight overflow, and in considerable trepidation he sought Jimmy Platt. That happy young gentleman only smiled. 

"I calculated upon that, " he informed Bobby, "and built your retainingwall two feet higher than the normal spring level for that veryreason. It will carry all the water than can shed down from thosehills. "

Relieved, Bobby went ahead with the preparations for turning theApplerod Addition into money, and though he saw the water creeping upsteadily against the other side of his wall, he displayed no anxietyuntil it had reached within three or four inches of the top. Then hetook Platt out with him to have a look at it. 

"Don't you think you ought to get busy?" he inquired. "Hadn't webetter add another foot to this wall?"

"Not necessary, " said Jimmy, shaking his head positively. "This hasbeen an unusual spring, but the wet weather is all over now, and youcan see by the water-mark where the level has gone down a half inchsince morning. All the moisture that has been trickling down hereduring the past week has been from the thawing out of the frozenhillsides, but those slopes are almost dust dry now. "

"Suppose it should rain again?" insisted Bobby, still worried. 

"It couldn't rain hard enough to fill up these four inches, " declaredPlatt with decision. "Look here, Mr. Burnit, I'd worry myself if therewas any cause whatever. Do you suppose I'd want anything to happen tomy biggest and best job so close to my wedding-day?"

"So you've set the time, " said Bobby, with eager pleasure. He had metPlatt's "best girl" and her mother out at the Addition, and liked her, as he did earnest young Platt. 

"June the first, " replied Jimmy exultantly. "The date of youropening--in the evening. "

"Don't forget to send me an invitation. "

"Will you come?" said Platt. He had wanted to ask Bobby before, buthad not been quite sure that he ought. 

"Come!" replied Bobby. "Indeed I shall--unless I happen to have awedding of my own on that date. "

Bobby went away satisfied once more, and quite willing to give up theadditional foot of wall. The work would entail considerable cost, andexpense now was much more of an item than it had been a few monthspreviously. Already he had spent upon this project over two hundredand ten thousand dollars; ten thousand he had given to Biff Bates; tenthousand he had used personally, so there was but an insignificantportion left of his two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Their"grand opening" would eat up another tidy little sum, for it was to bean expensive affair. The liberal advertising that had already appearedwas augmented as the great day approached, a brass band had beenengaged, a magnificent lunch, sufficient to feed an army, had beenarranged for, and every available 'bus and carry-all and picnic wagonin the city had been secured to transport all comers, free of charge, from the end of the car line to the new Addition. The price ofvehicles was high, however, for Silas Trimmer had already engagedquite a number of them to run between the Applerod Addition and hisown. During the week preceding June first, there had appeared, in thelocal papers, advertisements of about one-fourth the size that Bobbywas using, calling attention to the opening of the Trimmer Addition, which was to be upon the same date. 

On the evening of May twenty-ninth, Bobby found Silas pacing the topof the retaining wall which held in his swamp, and waited for thespider-like figure to come across and join him. 

"Too bad you didn't come in with me, or sell me your property at areasonable figure, " said Bobby affably, willing, in spite of hisrecent bitter experience, to meet his competitor upon the samefriendly grounds that he would a crack polo antagonist on the eve ofcontest. "It's a shame that this could not all have been improved atone time. "

"I'd just as lief have my part of it the way it is, " said Silas. "It'sno good now, but it's as good as yours, " and he climbed into his buggyand drove away laughing, leaving Bobby strangely dissatisfied anddoubtful over that strange remark. 

While he was still trying to unravel it, he noted that the water inSilas' pond, which but a day or so previously had been down to fullynine inches from the top, was now climbing rapidly upward again; andthere had been no rain for more than two weeks! The thing wasinexplicable. He was still puzzling over this as he drove down theroad and turned in at broad Burnit Avenue toward the club-house. Theasphalt and the pavements were bone dry and as clean as a ball-roomfloor, and it seemed to him that the young grass was growing greenerand higher here than anywhere. 

Suddenly he ordered his chauffeur to stop the machine. He had justpassed a lot where, amid the tufts of green, his eye had caught theglint of water. Running back to it he saw that the center of that lotwas covered by a small pool scarcely half an inch deep, through whichthe grass was growing dankly. This, too, was queer, for the hot sunand strong breeze of the past few days should have dried up everyvestige of moisture. He walked along the sidewalk, studying each ofthe lots in turn. Here and there he discovered other small pools, andevery lot bore the appearance of having just been freshly and tooliberally watered. He stepped from the pavement upon the earth, and tohis surprise his foot sank into it to the depth of an inch or more. For a while he was deeply worried, but presently it flashed upon himthat all this soil had been dumped into the marsh, displacing thewater, and that in this process it had naturally become soaked throughand through. Of course it would take a long time to dry out and itwould be all the better for its moisture. The rate at which grass wasgrowing was proof enough of that. 

On the next day, kept busy by the preparations for the big opening, Bobby did not get out to the Applerod Addition until evening again. Ashe neared it he met Silas Trimmer coming back in his buck-board, thatfalse circle around his mouth very much in evidence. 

"You ought to have had your opening yesterday. I'd have been temptedto buy a lot myself then, " shouted Silas as he passed, and Bobby wassure that the tone was a mocking one. 

Consumed with anxiety, he hurried on to see how Silas' swamp stood. Aghast, he found the level of the water a full inch higher than anypoint that it had ever before reached. Connecting this conditionvaguely with that other phenomenon that he had noted, he whirled hisrunabout and ran back into Burnit Avenue. In twenty-four hours aremarkable change had been wrought. There were pools everywhere. Thelot where he had first noticed it was now entirely covered with water, with barely the tips of the grass showing through. Frightened, hedrove over the entire Addition, up one street and down another. Inmany places the lots were flooded. One entire block had become no morenor less than a pond. At other points the water, carrying with it theyellow soil, was flowing over his beautiful clean sidewalks andspreading its stain upon his immaculate streets. The darkness alonedrove him from that inspection, and then it occurred to him to sendonce more for Jimmy Platt. At the first suburban telephone station hetried for nearly an hour to locate his man, but in vain. Later hetried it from his club, but could not reach him. That night was asleepless one, and the next morning's daybreak found him speeding outthe roadway to the Applerod Addition. 

Early as he was, however, he found young Platt there ahead of him andin despair. He had good cause. The whole north end of the ApplerodAddition had turned black, and over the top of Bobby's now grimycement wall poured a broad, dark sheet of the murky swamp-water whichhad stained it. The pond of Silas Trimmer had overflowed in spite ofall Platt's confident figuring that it could not, and in spite of thefact that dry weather had prevailed for two solid weeks. That was theinexplicable part. Clear weather, and still the entire suburb wasbecoming practically submerged! With solid, dry soil surrounding it, wherever the eye could reach it had become but a morass of mud! Mudwas smeared upon every path and every roadway, and Bobby's automobileslipped and slid in the oily, yellow liquid that lay sluggishly inevery gutter and blotched every rod of his clean asphalt. 

Young Platt's face blanched as he saw Bobby. 

"I've made a miserable botch of it, " he confessed, torn with an agonyof regret at his failure; "and I can't see yet what I overlooked. I'dno right to tackle a man's job like this!"

"You!" replied Bobby vehemently. "It was Trimmer who did this;somehow, someway he did it, and he flaunts it in our faces. Lookthere!" and he pointed to a huge signboard that had been erectedovernight just opposite the entrance to Burnit Avenue. In huge, boldletters, surmounted by a giant hand that pointed the way, it toldprospective investors to buy property in the high and dry TrimmerAddition, the words "High and Dry" being twice as large as any otherlettering upon the board. 

"It is surely a lot of nerve, " admitted Platt, "but it is ranknonsense to say that the man had anything to do with this catastrophe. It would have been impossible. Let's look this thing over. Drive pastthe club-house to the extreme west side. "

Once more they traversed the mud of Burnit Avenue, and upon the dry, sloping ground the young engineer, cursing his inexperience, alightedand walked along the edge of the property, seeking a solution to themystery. Still perplexed, he ascended the rising ground and lookedmusingly across at the yet swollen and clay-red river. Suddenly anexclamation escaped his lips. 

"There's your enemy, " he said to Bobby who had climbed up beside him, and pointed to the river. "The river bank, I am sure, must edge upon atilted shale formation which dips just below this basin. Probably atall times some of the water from the river seeps down between twosand-separated layers of this formation to find its outlet in themarsh, and it is this water which, through a geological freak, hassupplied that swamp for ages. In the spring, however, and inextraordinary flood times, it probably finds a higher and looserstratum, and rushes down here with all the force of a hydraulicstream. This spring it took it a long time to wet thoroughly all ourmade ground from the bottom upward. The frost, sinking deeper in thisloose, wet soil than elsewhere, held it back, too, for a time, but assoon as this was thoroughly out of the ground the river overflow cameup like a geyser. 

"Mr. Burnit, your Applerod Addition is ruined, and it can never besaved, unless by some extraordinary means. Nature picked out thisspot, centuries and centuries ago, for a swamp, and she's going tohave one here in spite of all that we can do. In five years this basinwon't be a thing but black water and weeds, with only that club-houseas a decaying monument to your enterprise. "

Bobby controlled himself with an effort. His face was drawn and white;but part of that was from the anxiety of the past two days, and hetook the blow stiff and erect, as a good soldier stands up to bedisciplined. His eye roved over the work in which he had taken suchpride, and already he could see in fancy the dank weeds growing up, and the croaking frogs diving into the oily surface, and the clouds ofmosquitoes hovering over it again. Over the top of his retaining wallstill poured the foul water which was to leaven all this, and he gazedupon it with a sharp intake of the breath. 

"And to think that Silas Trimmer must have known all this, and led meto waste a fortune just so that he could reap the benefit of myadvertising for his own vulture advantage!"

That, at first, was the part which hurt more than the overthrow of hisplans, more than the loss of his money, more than the failure of hisfight to carry out his father's wishes for his success: that any onecould play the game so unfairly, that there could be in all the worldpeople so detestable, so unprincipled, so _unsportsmanlike_!

Slowly the vanquished pair descended the hill to where the automobilestood upon the solid, level sward, but before they climbed in Bobbyshook hands with his engineer. 

"Don't blame yourself too much, old man, " he said. "It wasn't acondition that you could foresee, and I'm mighty sorry if it hurtsyour reputation. "

"It ought to!" exclaimed Platt with deep self-revilement. "I shouldhave investigated. I should not have taken anything for granted. Iought to have enough money so that you could sue me for damages andrecover all you lost. "

"It couldn't be done, " said Bobby miserably. "I've lost so much morethan money. "

He did not tell Platt of Agnes, but that was the one thought intowhich all his failure had finally resolved. Agnes! How much longermust he wait for her? They had just passed the club-house when a lightbuggy turned into Burnit Avenue, driven furiously by a white-hairedman in a white vest and a high silk hat. 

"I accept your offer!" cried Applerod, as soon as he came withintalking distance, his usually ruddy face now livid white. 

"My offer, " repeated Bobby wonderingly. 

"Yes; your offer of ten thousand dollars for my share in the ApplerodAddition. "

Bobby was forced to laugh. It had needed but this to make the bitterjest of fortune complete. 

"You refused that offer the day it was made, Applerod!" put in Plattindignantly. "I heard you. Anyhow, you dragged Mr. Burnit into thisthing!"

"He's not to blame for that, " said Bobby. "But still, I don't think Icare to buy any more of this property. " And he smiled grimly at theabsurdity of it all. 

"I'll sue you for it!" shrieked Applerod, frantic from thwartedself-interest. "You prevented me from selling out at a profit when Ihad a chance! You bound me hand and foot when I knew that if SilasTrimmer had anything to gain by it we would lose! He knew all the timethat this swamp was fed by underground springs. He bragged about it tome this morning as I passed him on the road. He told me last night I'dbetter come out here this morning. "

"I see, " said Bobby coldly, and he reached for his lever. 

"Then you won't hold good to your offer?" gasped the other. 

Pale before, he had turned ashen now, and Bobby looked at him withquick compunction. Applerod, always so chubbily youthful for a man ofhis years, was grown suddenly old. He seemed to have shrunk inside hisclothes, his face to have turned flabby, his eyes to have dimmed. After all, he was an old man, and the little that he had scrapedtogether represented all that he could hope to amass in a none tooprovident lifetime. This day made him a pauper and there was no chancefor a fresh start. Bobby himself was young and strong, and, moreover, his resources were by no means exhausted. 

"I'll tell you what I'll do, Applerod, " said he, after a moment ofvery sober thought. "Your property cost you in the neighborhood offour thousand. Interest since the time you first began to invest in itwould bring it up to a little more than that. I'll give you fivethousand. "

"I won't accept it. --Yes, I will! yes, I will!" he cried as Bobbyimpatiently reached again for his lever. 

"Very well, " said Bobby, "wait a minute. " And tearing a leaf from hismemorandum-book he wrote a note to Johnson to see to the transfer ofthe property and deliver to Applerod a check for five thousanddollars. 

"That was more than generous; it was foolish, " protested Jimmy Platt, as they whirled away. 

"No doubt, " admitted Bobby dryly. "But, if I'm forced to be a fool, Imight as well have a well-finished job of it. "

CHAPTER XII

AGNES DECIDES THAT SHE WILL WAIT

Applerod, his poise nearly recovered, bounded into the office whereJohnson sat stolidly working away, his sense of personal contentednessenhanced by the presence of Biff Bates, who sat idly upon the flat-topdesk, dangling his legs and waiting for Bobby. Mr. Applerod paid noattention whatever to Mr. Bates, that gentleman being quite beneathhis notice, but with vast importance he laid down in front of Mr. Johnson the note which Bobby had given him. 

"_Mr. _ Johnson, " he pompously directed, "you will please attend tothis little matter as soon as possible. "

"Applerod, " said Johnson, glancing at the note and looking up withsudden fire, "does this mean that you are no longer even partially myemployer?"

"That's it exactly. "

"Then you, Applerod, don't you dare call me _Mr. _ Johnson again!" Andhe shook a bony fist at his old-time work-fellow. 

Biff Bates nearly fell off the desk, but with rare presence of mindrestrained his glee. 

Mr. Applerod, smiling loftily, immediately wielded his bludgeon. 

"We should not quarrel over trifles, " he stated commiseratingly. "Weare once more companions in misfortune. There is no Applerod Addition. It is a swamp again. "

"What do you mean?" asked Johnson incredulously, but suspending hisindignation for the instant. 

"This, " said Applerod: "that the entire addition is a hundred-acre mudpuddle this morning. You couldn't sell a lot in it to a blind man. Every cent that was invested in it is lost. The whole marsh was fedfrom underground springs that have come up through it and overflowedthe place. "

"Trimmer again, " said Biff Bates, and slid off the desk; then helooked at his watch with a curious speculative smile. 

"But if it is all lost, " protested Johnson, looking again at the noteand pausing in the making out of the check, "how do you come to getthis?"

"He owed it to me, " asserted Applerod. "I wanted to sell out when Ifirst found that we were competing with Silas Trimmer, and youngBurnit kept me from it by an injunction. He offered me ten thousanddollars for my interest once, but this morning when I went to acceptthat offer he would only give me this five thousand. It's just fivethousand dollars that he's robbed me of. "

"_Robbed!_" shrilled Johnson, jumping from his chair. "Applerod, youweigh a hundred and eighty pounds and I weigh a hundred andthirty-seven, but I can lick you the best day you ever lived; and bythunder and blazes! if you let fall another remark like that I'llknock your infernal head off!"

Mr. Johnson had on no coat, but he felt the urgent need to removesomething, so he tore off one false sleeve, wadded it up in a littleball and slammed it on the floor with great vigor, tore off the otherone, wadded it up and slammed that down. Biff Bates, quivering withjoy, rang loudly upon a porcelain electric-light shade with his penciland called: "Time!"

There was no employment for a referee, however, for Mr. Applerod, withastonishing agility, sprang to the door and held it half open, readyfor a hurried exit in case of any other demonstration. It was shockingto think that he might be drawn into an undignified altercation--andwith a mere clerk! Also, it might be dangerous. 

"Nothing doing, chum, " said Biff Bates disgustedly to his friendJohnson. "This bunch of mush-ripe bananas ain't even a quitter. He's anever-beginner. But you'll do fine, old scout. Come along with me. Igot a treat for you. "

Mr. Johnson, breathing scorn that alternately dented and inflated hisnostrils, slowly donned his coat and hat without removing his eyesfrom Applerod, who, as the two approached the door, edged uncertainlyaway from it. 

"I've got to go out, anyhow, " said Johnson, addressing his remarksexclusively to Mr. Bates, but his glare exclusively to Mr. Applerod. "I'm going to put this check into the hands of Mr. Chalmers, so Mr. Robert don't get cheated by any yellow-livered _snake in the grass_!"And he spit out those last violent words with a sudden vehemence whichmade Mr. Applerod drop his shiny hat. 

When Bobby came into the office a few minutes later he found Applerod, his hat upon his lap, waiting in one of the customers' chairs withstiff solemnity. 

"Why aren't you at your desk, Applerod?" asked Bobby sharply. "Youhave an immense amount of unopened mail, and some of it may containchecks which will have to be sent back. "

"Mr. Burnit, " said Mr. Applerod, rising with great dignity andthrowing back his shoulders, "I consider myself no longer in youremploy. I have resigned. "

Bobby looked at him thoughtfully and weighed rapidly in his mind agreat many things. He remembered that his father had once said of thetwo men: "Johnson has a pea-green liver and is a pessimist, but he ishonest. Applerod suffers from too much health and is an optimist, andI presume him to be honest, but I never tested it. " Yet his father hadseen fit to keep Applerod in his intimate employ all these years, recognizing in him material of value. Moreover, he had advised Bobbyto keep both men, and Bobby, to-day more than ever, placed great faithin the wisdom of his father. 

"Mr. Applerod, " said he, "I dislike to be harsh with you, but if youdon't put up your hat and get at that bundle of mail I shall becompelled to consider discharging you. Where's Johnson?"

"He went out with Mr. Bates, sir. "

When Bobby left, Applerod was industriously sorting the mail on hisdesk, preparing to open it. 

Bobby let himself into the big new gymnasium and walked back throughthe deserted hall to the small room that was used for individualtraining. As he neared the door he could hear the sound of loud voicesand the shuffling of feet, and heard the commanding voice of BiffBates shout "Break!"

The door was locked, but through the slide window at the side astrange tableau met his eyes. Stooped and lean Johnson, as chalk-whiteof face as ever, had paunchy and thin-legged Silas Trimmer by thecollar, and over Biff Bates' intervening body was trying to rain blowsinto the center of the circular smile, now flattened to an oval ofdistress. 

"Break, Johnson, break!" begged Biff. "Don't put him out till you feedhim all he's got coming. " Thereupon he succeeded in extracting Mr. Trimmer from the grasp of Mr. Johnson and forced the former back upona chair, where he began to fan him with a towel in most approvedfashion. 

"Let me out of this!" gasped Mr. Trimmer. "I'll have you arrested forassault and conspiracy. "

"They'll only pinch a corpse, for the cops'll find me tickled to deathwhen they get here, " responded Mr. Bates gaily. "Now you're all right. Get up!"

"Let me out of this, I say!" commanded Mr. Trimmer frantically. "I'llrun you into the penitentiary! I'll break you up in business! I'llhire thugs to break every bone in your body!"

"Is that all?" inquired Biff complacently, and grabbed him as hestarted to run around the room in a wild hunt for an outlet. "Stand uphere and put up a fight or I'll punch you myself. I've been aching todo it for a year. That's why I got Doc Willets to dope it out to youthat you was dyin' for training, and why I kept shifting your hour towhen there was nobody here. Go to him, chum!"

Then ensued the strangest sparring match that the grinning andstealthily silent Bobby had ever seen. Johnson, with a true "tigercrouch" which he could not have avoided if he had wished, begandancing around and around the spherical body of Mr. Trimmer, withoutscience and without precaution, keeping his two arms going likewindmills, and occasionally landing a light blow upon some portion ofMr. Trimmer's unresisting anatomy; but finally a whirl so vigorousthat it sent Johnson spinning upon his own heel, landed squarelybeneath the jaw of Silas. That gentleman, with a puffed eye and ableeding lip and two teeth gone, rose from his feet with the impact ofthe blow, and landed with a grunt in a huge basket of soiledbath-towels. 

"Johnson, " called the laughter-shaken voice of Bobby through thewindow, "I'm ashamed of you!"

Mr. Johnson looked up happily from his task of wiping away a littletrickle of blood from his already swollen nose. 

"Did you see me do it?" he demanded, thrilling with pride. "Mr. Burnit, I--I never had so much fun in my life. Never, never! By theway, sir, " and even upon that triumphant moment his duty obtruded, "Ihave a letter for you that I brought away from the office, " andthrough the window he handed one of the inevitable gray envelopes. Itwas inscribed:

 _To My Son, Upon the Failure of Applerod's Swamp Scheme_

"In the midst of pleasure we are in pain, " murmured Bobby, and toreopen the letter. In it he read:

 "My Dear Boy:

 "A man must not only examine a business proposition from all sides, but must also turn it over and look well at the bottom. I never knew what was the matter with that swamp scheme, except Applerod, but I didn't want to know any more. You did. 

 "Well, you don't need wisdom. I've put one-half your fortune where it will yield you a living income. Try to cut at least one eye-tooth with the other half. Your trustee is instructed to give you another start. 

 "YOUR LOVING FATHER. "

His trustee! Once more he must face her with failure; go to herbeaten, and accept through her hands the means to gain himself anotherbuffeting. He had not the heart to see her now, but he was not turnedaltogether coward, for leaving the scene of the late conflictabruptly, all its humor spoiled for him, he telephoned her what hadhappened and that he would be out in the evening. 

"No, you must come now. I want you, " she gently insisted, and when hehad come to her she went directly to him and put both her hands uponhis shoulders. 

"It wasn't fair, Bobby; it wasn't fair!" she cried. "None of it isfair, and your father had no right to bind me down with promises whenyou need me so. I'm willing to break them all. Bobby, I'll marry youto-morrow if you say so. "

He drew a long, trembling breath, and then he put his hands gentlyupon both her cheeks and kissed her on the forehead. 

"Let's don't, " he said simply. "I have my own blood up now, and I wantto take this other chance. I want to play the game out to the end. You'll wait, won't you?"

She looked up at him through moist eyes. He was so big and so strongand so good, and already through the past year of earnest purposethere had come firm, new lines upon his face, lines that meantsomething in the ultimate building of character; and she recognizedthat perhaps stern old John Burnit had been right after all. 

"Indeed, I can wait, " she whispered. "Proudly, Bobby. "

CHAPTER XIII

IN WHICH A CHARMING GENTLEMAN OFFERS AN INVESTMENT WITHOUT A FLAW

It was pretty, in the succeeding days, to see Agnes poring overadvertisements and writing down long lists of suggested enterprisesfor investigation, enterprises which proved in every case to be in themidst of an already too thickly contested field, or to be hampered bymonopoly, or subject to some other vital drawback. There seemed to bea strange dearth of safe and suitable commercial ventures, a fact overwhich Bobby and Agnes together puzzled almost nightly. There was to beno false start this time; no stumbling in the middle of the race; nothird failure. The third time was to be the charm. And yet too muchtime must not be wasted. They both began to feel rather worried aboutthis. 

Of course, there was a letter, in the familiar gray envelope. It hadbeen handed to Bobby by Johnson upon the day the second check for twohundred and fifty thousand had been paid over by Chalmers upon Agnes'order, and it read:

 _To My Son Robert, Upon His Third Attempt to Make Money_

 "The man who has never failed has been either too lucky or too timid to have much tried and tested worth. The man who always fails is too useless to talk about. As you've failed twice you're neither too lucky nor too timid. It remains to be seen if you are too useless. 

 "Remember that money isn't the only audible thing in this world; but it makes more noise than anything else. A vast number of people call money vulgar; but, if you'll notice, this opinion is chiefly held by those who haven't been able to secure any of it. 

 "I wouldn't have you sacrifice any decent principle to get it, because that is not necessary; but go get money of your own, and see what a difference there is between dollars. A dollar you've made is as different from a dollar that's given to you as your children are from other people's. "

"If only the governor had pointed out some good business for me to gointo, " complained Bobby as he read this letter over with Agnes. 

She shook her head soberly. She realized, more than he possibly could, as yet, just where Bobby's weaknesses lay. She had worried over themnot a little, of late, and she was just as anxious as old John Burnithad been to have him correct those defects; and she, like Bobby'sfather, was only thankful that they were not defects of manliness, ofcourage or of moral or mental fiber. They were only defects oftraining, for which the elder Burnit, as he had himself confessed, wasresponsible. 

"That isn't what he wanted at all, Bobby, " she protested. "The veryfact of your two past failures shows just how right he was in makingyou find out things for yourself. The chief trouble, I am afraid, isthat you have been too ready to furnish the money and let others spendit for you. "

"I know, " said Bobby. "I have been too willing to take everybody'sword, I guess; but I have always been able to do that in my crowd, andit is rather a dash to me to find that in business you can not do it. However, I have reformed. "

He said this so self-confidently that Agnes laughed. 

"Yes, " she admitted, "you are convinced that Silas Trimmer is a thiefand a rascal, and you would not take his word for anything. You areconvinced that Applerod's judgment is useless and that your own doesnot amount to much, but I still believe that the next plausiblelooking and plausible talking man who comes to you can engage you inany business that seems fair on the surface. "

"I deserve what you say, " he confessed, but somewhat piqued, nevertheless. "However, I don't think you are giving me credit forhaving learned any lesson at all. Why, only to-day you ought to haveheard me turning down a proposition to finance a new and improvedwashing-machine. Sounded very good and feasible, too. The man was agood talker and thoroughly earnest and honest, I am sure. I really didwant to help the fellow start his business, but somehow or other Icould not seem to like the idea of washing-machines; such a sudsy sortof business. "

Agnes laughed the sort of a laugh that always made him want to catchhold of her, but if he had any intentions in that respect they wereinterfered with just now by Uncle Dan, who strolled into the parlor inhis dressing-jacket and with a cigar tilted in the corner of hismouth. 

"How's the Commercial Board of Strategy coming on?" he inquired as heoffered Bobby a cigar. 

"Fine!" declared Bobby; "except that it can not think of a stratagem. "

"I think you are very selfish not to help us out, Uncle Dan, " declaredAgnes. "With all your experience you ought to be able to suggestsomething for Bobby to go into that would be a nice business andperfectly safe and make him lots of money without requiring too muchexperience to start with. "

"Young lady, " said Uncle Dan severely, "if I knew a business of thatkind I'd sell some of the stock of my factory and go into it myself;but I don't. The fact is, there are no business snaps lying aroundloose. You have to make one, and that takes not just money, but workand brains. "

"I'm perfectly willing to work, " declared Bobby. 

"And you don't mean to say that he hasn't brains!" objected Agnes. 

"No-o-o, " admitted Uncle Dan. "I am quite sure that Bobby has brains, but they have not been quite--a--a--well, say solidified, yet. You'renot allowed to smoke in this parlor, Bobby. Mrs. Elliston wants aquiet home game of whist; sent me to bring you up. "

Secretly, old Dan Elliston was himself puzzling a great deal over acareer for Bobby, but up to the moment had not found anything that hethought safe to propose. Not having a good idea he was averse todiscussing any project whatsoever, and so, each time that he wasconsulted upon the subject, he was as evasive as this about it, andBobby each morning dragged perplexedly into the handsome offices ofthe defunct Applerod Addition, where Applerod and Johnson were stillworking a solid eight hours a day to straighten out the affairs ofthat unfortunate venture. 

Those offices were the dullest quarters Bobby knew, for they containednothing but the dead ashes of bygone money; but one morning businesspicked up with a jerk. He found a mine investment agent awaiting himwhen he arrived, and before he was through with this cleverconversationalist a man was in to get him to buy a racing stable. Affairs grew still more brisk as the morning wore on. Within the nexttwo hours he had politely but firmly declined to buy a partnership ina string of bucket shops, to refinance a defunct irrigation company, to invest in a Florida plantation, to take a tip on copper, and toback an automobile factory which was to enter business upon somedesigns of a new engine stolen by a discharged workman. 

"How did all these people find out that I have two hundred and fiftythousand dollars to invest?" impatiently demanded Bobby, after he hadrefused the allurements of a patent-medicine scheme, the last of thatmorning's lot. 

There followed a dense silence, in the midst of which old Johnsonlooked up from the book in which he was entering a long, long list ofitems on the wrong side of the profit and loss account, and jerked hislean thumb angrily in the direction of Applerod. 

"Ask him, " he said. 

Chubby-faced old Applerod, excessively meek of spirit to-day, suffereda moment of embarrassment under the accusing eyes of young Burnit. 

"The newspapers, sir, " he admitted, twisting uncomfortably in hisswivel chair. "The reporters were here yesterday afternoon with theidea that since you haven't announced any future plans, the failure ofour real estate scheme--_my_ real estate scheme, " he corrected inresponse to a snort and a glare from Johnson--"had left you penniless. Of course I wasn't going to let them go away with that impression, soI told them that you had another two hundred and fifty thousanddollars to invest, with probably more to follow, if necessary. "

"And of course, " groaned Bobby, "it is all in print, with ingenioustrimmings. "

From a drawer in his desk Johnson quietly drew copies of the morningpapers, each one folded carefully to an article in which, under widevariations of embarrassing head-lines, the facts of Bobby's latestfrittering of his father's good money were once more facetiously, evengleefully, set forth and embellished, with added humorous speculationsas to how he would probably cremate his new fund. Bobby was about toturn into his own room to absorb his humiliation in secret whenApplerod hesitantly stopped him. 

"Another thing, sir, " he said. "Mr. Frank L. Sharpe called up earlythis morning to know when he would find you in, and I took the libertyof telling him that you would very likely be here at ten o'clock. "

Bobby frowned slightly at the mention of that name. He knew of Sharpevaguely as a man whose private life had been so scandalous thatsociety had ceased to shudder at his name--it simply refused to hearit; a man who had even secured advancement by obligingly divorcing hisfirst wife so that the notorious Sam Stone could marry her. 

"What did he want?" he asked none too graciously. 

"I don't know, sir, " said Applerod; "but he telephoned me again justas you were getting rid of this last caller. I told him that you werehere and he said that he would be right over. "

Bobby made no reply to this, but went thoughtfully into his room andclosed the door after him. In less than five minutes the door opened, and Mr. Applerod, his voice fairly oily with obsequiousness, announcedMr. Frank L. Sharpe! Why, here is a man whose name was in the papersevery morning, noon and night! Mr. Sharpe had taken a trip to New Yorkon behalf of the Gas Company; Mr. Sharpe had returned from his trip toNew York on behalf of the Gas Company; Mr. Sharpe had entertained atthe Hotel Spender; Mr. Sharpe had made a speech; Mr. Sharpe had beeninterviewed; Mr. Sharpe had been indisposed for half a day!

Quite prepossessing of appearance was Mr. Sharpe; a tall, ratherslight gentleman, whose features no one ever analyzed because the eyesof the observer stopped, fascinated, at his mustache. That wonderfuladornment was wonderfully luxuriant, gray and curly, pretty to anextreme, and kept most fastidiously trimmed, and it lifted when hesmiled to display a most engaging row of white, even teeth. Centeredupon this magnificent combination the gaze never roved to the animalnose, to the lobeless ears, to the watery blue eyes half obscured bythe lower lids. He was immaculately, though a shade too youthfully, dressed in a gray frock suit, with pearl-gray spats upon his shoes, and he was most charmed to see young Mr. Burnit. 

"You have a very neat little suite of offices here, Mr. Burnit, " hecommented, seating himself gracefully and depositing his gray hat, hisgray cane and his gray gloves carefully to one side of him uponBobby's desk. 

"I'm afraid they are a little too nice for practical purposes, " Bobbyconfessed. "I have found that business isn't a parlor game. "

"Precisely what I came to see you about, " said Mr. Sharpe. "Iunderstand you have been a trifle unfortunate, but that is because youdid not go into the regular channels. An established and payingcorporation is the only worth-while proposition, and if you have notyet settled upon an investment I would like to suggest that you becomeinterested in our local Brightlight Electric Company. "

"I thought there was no gas or electric stock for sale, " said Bobbyslowly, clinging still to a vague impression that he had gained fiveor six years before. 

"Not to the public, " replied Mr. Sharpe, smiling, "and there would nothave been privately except for the necessity of a reorganization. TheBrightlight needs more capital for expansion, and I have too manyother interests, even aside from the Consumers' Electric Light andPower and the United Gas and Fuel Companies, to spare the moneymyself--and the Brightlight is too good to let the general public inon. " He smiled again, quite meaningly this time. "This is quiteconfidential, of course, " he added. 

Bobby bowed his acknowledgment of the confidence which had beenreposed in him, and generously began at once to reconstruct hisimpressions of the impossible Mr. Sharpe. You couldn't believe all youheard, you know. 

"The Brightlight, " went on Mr. Sharpe, "is at present capitalizedfor two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and is a goodten-per-cent. -dividend-paying stock at the present moment; but itsbusiness is not growing, and I propose to take in sufficient capitalto raise the Brightlight to a half-million-dollar corporation, clearoff its indebtedness and project certain extensions. I understand thatyou have the necessary amount, and here is the proposition I offeryou. Brightlight stock is now quoted at a hundred and seventy-two. Wewill double its present capitalization, and you may take up the extratwo hundred and fifty thousand dollars' worth of its stock at par, orabout three-fifths of its actual value. That is a bargain to besnapped at, Mr. Burnit. "

Did Bobby Burnit snap at this proposition? He did not. Bobby hadlearned caution through his two bitter failures, and of caution isborn wisdom. 

"Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars' worth of stock in afive-hundred-thousand-dollar corporation won't do for me, " he declaredwith a firmness that was pleasant to his own ears. "I don't care to gointo any proposition in which I have not the controlling interest. "

Mr. Sharpe, remembering the details of Bobby's Trimmer and Companyexperiment, hastily turned his imminent smile of amusement into amerely engaging one. 

"I don't blame you, Mr. Burnit, " said he; "but to show you that I ammore willing to trust you than you are to trust me, if you care to gointo this thing I'll agree to sell you from one to ten shares of myindividual stock--at its present market value, of course. "

"That's very good of you, " agreed Bobby, suddenly ashamed of hisungenerous stand in the face of this sportsmanlike attitude. "Butreally I've had cause for timidity. "

"Caution is not cowardice, " said Mr. Sharpe in a tone which conveyed aworld of friendly approbation. "This matter must be taken up verysoon, however, and I can not allow you more than a week toinvestigate. I'd be pleased to receive your legal and businessadvisers at any time you may nominate, and to give them any advantageyou may wish. "

"I'll investigate it at least, and I thank you for giving me theopportunity, " said Bobby, really very contrite that he had been doingSharpe such a mental injustice all these years. "By the way, " hesuddenly added, "has Silas Trimmer anything whatever to do with thisproposition?"

Mr. Sharpe smiled. 

"Mr. Trimmer does not own one share of stock in the BrightlightElectric Company, nor will he own it, " he answered. 

"In that case, " said Bobby, "I am satisfied to consider your offerwithout fear of heart-disease. "

The departing caller met an incoming one in the outer office, andAgnes, sweeping into Bobby's room, breathlessly gasped:

"That was Frank Sharpe!"

"The same, " admitted Bobby, smiling down at her and taking both herhands. 

"I never saw him so closely, " she declared. "Really, he's quitedistinguished-looking. "

"As long as he avoids a close shave, " supplemented Bobby. "But whatbrings you into the--the busy marts of trade so early in the morning?"

"My trusteeship, " she answered him loftily, producing some documentsfrom her hand-bag. "And I'm in a hurry. Sign them papers. "

"Them there papers, " he kindly corrected, and seating himself at hisdesk he examined the minor transfers perfunctorily and signed them. 

"I'm afraid I'm a failure as a trustee, " she told him. "I ought tohave had more power. I ought to have been authorized to keep you outof bad company. How came Mr. Sharpe to call on you, for instance?"

"To make my fortune, " he gravely assured her. "Mr. Sharpe wants me togo into the Brightlight Electric Company with him. "

"I can imagine your courteous adroitness in putting the man back inhis place, " she laughed. "How preposterous! Why, he's utterlyimpossible!"

"Ye-e-es?" questioned Bobby. "But you know, Agnes, this isn't apink-tea affair. It's business, which is at the other end of theworld. "

"You're not honestly defending him, Bobby?" she protestedincredulously. "Why, I do believe you are considering the manseriously!"

"Why not?" he persisted, arguing against his own convictions as muchas against hers. "We want me to make some money, don't we? To make asuccess that will let me marry you?"

"I'm not to say so, remember, " she reminded him. 

"Father put no lock on my tongue, though, " he reminded her in turn;"so I'll just lay down the dictum that as soon as I succeed in any onebusiness deal I'm going to marry you, and I don't care whether thecommodity I handle is electricity or potatoes. "

"But Frank L. Sharpe!" she exclaimed, with shocked remembrance ofcertain whispered stories she had heard. 

"Really, I don't see where he enters into it, " persisted Bobby. "TheBrightlight Electric Company is a stock corporation, in which Mr. Sharpe happens to own some shares; that is all. "

She shook her head. 

"I can't seem to like it, " she told him, and rose to go. 

The door opened, and Johnson, with much solemnity, though in his eyesthere lurked a twinkle, brought in a card which, with much stiffceremony, he handed to Bobby. 

"Professor Henry H. Bates, " read Bobby in some perplexity, thensuddenly his brow cleared and he laughed uproariously. "Come right in, Biff, " he called. 

In response to this invitation there entered upon Agnes' vision ashort, chunky, broad-shouldered young man in a checked green suit andred tie, who, finding himself suddenly confronted by a dazzlinglybeautiful young lady, froze instantly into speechless awkwardness. 

"This is my friend and partner, Mr. Biff--Mr. Henry H. Bates--MissElliston, " introduced Bobby, smiling. 

Agnes held out her hand, which suddenly seemed to dwindle in size asit was clasped by the huge palm of Mr. Bates. 

"I have heard so much of you from Mr. Burnit, and always nice things, "she said, smiling at him so frankly that Mr. Bates, though his faceflushed red, instantly thawed. 

"Bobby's right there with the boost, " commented Mr. Bates, and then, not being quite satisfied with that form of speech, he huskilycorrected it to: "Burnit's always handing out those pleasant words. "This form of expression seeming also to be somewhat lacking in polish, he relapsed into more redness, and wiped the strangely moist palms ofhis hands upon the sides of his coat. 

"He doesn't talk about any but pleasant people, " Agnes assured him. 

After she had gone Mr. Bates looked dazedly at the door through whichshe had passed out, then turned to Bobby. 

"Carries a full line of that conversation, " he commented, "but I liketo fall for it. And say! I'll bet she's game all right; the kind thatwould stick to a guy when he was broke, in jail and had the smallpox. That's your steady, ain't it, Bobby?"

Coming from any one else this query might have seemed a trifle blunt, but Bobby understood precisely how Mr. Bates meant it, and wasgratified. 

"She's the real girl, " he admitted. 

"I'm for her, " stoutly asserted Mr. Bates, as he extracted a huge wadof crumpled bills from his trousers pocket. "Any old time she wantsanybody strangled or stabbed and you ain't handy, she can call on yourfriend Biff. Here's your split of last month's pickings at the gym. One hundred and eighty-one large, juicy simoleons; count 'em, onehundred and eighty-one!" And he threw the money on the desk. 

"Everything paid?" asked Bobby. 

"Here's the receipts, " and from inside his vest Mr. Bates producedthem. "Ground rent, light, heat, payroll, advertising, my own littleold weekly envelope and everything; and I got one-eighty-one in myother kick for my share. "

"Very well, " said Bobby; "you just put this money of mine into a fundto buy further equipments when we need them. "

"Nit and nix; also no!" declared Mr. Bates emphatically. "This timethe bet goes as she lays. You take a real money drag-down from nowon. "

"Mr. Johnson, " called Bobby through the open door, "please take chargeof this one hundred and eighty-one dollars, and open a separateaccount for my investment in the Bates Athletic Hall. It might be, Biff, " he continued, turning to Mr. Bates, "that yours would turn outto be the only safe business venture I ever made. "

"It ain't no millionaire stunt, but it sure does pay a steady divvy, "Mr. Bates assured him. "I see a man outside scraping the real-estatesign off the door. Is he going to paint a new one?"

"I don't know, " said Bobby, frowning. "I shall, of course, get intosomething very shortly, but I've not settled on anything as yet. Thebest thing that has turned up so far is an interest in the BrightlightElectric Company offered me to-day by Frank L. Sharpe. "

"What!" shrieked Biff in a high falsetto, and slapped himself smartlyon the wrist. "Has he been here? I thought it seemed kind of close. Give me a cigarette till I fumigate. "

"What's the matter with the Brightlight Electric Company?" demandedBobby. 

"Nothing. It's a cinch so far as I know. But Sharpe! Why, say, Bobby, all the words I'd want to use to tell you about him have been left outof the dictionary so they could send it through the mails. "

Bobby frowned. The certain method to have him make allowances for aman was to attack that man. When he arrived at the Idlers' Club atnoon, however, he was given another opportunity for Christian charity. Nick Allstyne and Payne Winthrop and Stanley Rogers were discussingsomething with great indignation when he joined them, and Nick drewhim over to the bulletin board, where was displayed the application ofFrank L. Sharpe, proposed by Clarence Smythe, Silas Trimmer'sson-in-law, and seconded by another undesirable who had twice beenposted for non-payment of dues. 

"There is only one thing about this that commends itself to me, andthat is the immaculate and colossal nerve of the proceeding, " declaredNick indignantly. "The next thing you know somebody will propose SamStone. "

At this they all laughed. The Idlers' Club was the one institutionthat stood in no awe of the notorious "boss" of the city and of thestate; a man who had never held an office, but who, until the past twoyears, had controlled all offices; whose methods were openlydishonest; who held underground control of every public utility and ascore of private enterprises. The idea of Stone as an applicant formembership in the Idlers' Club was a good joke, but the actualapplication of Sharpe was too serious for jesting. Nevertheless, allthis turmoil over the mere name of the man worked a strange reactionin Bobby Burnit. 

"After all, business is business, " he declared to himself, "and Idon't see where Sharpe's personality figures in this BrightlightElectric deal, especially since I am to have control. "

Accordingly he directed Chalmers and Johnson to make a thoroughinvestigation of that corporation. 

CHAPTER XIV

BOBBY ENTERS A BUSINESS ALLIANCE, A SOCIAL ENTANGLEMENT AND A QUARRELWITH AGNES

The report of Mr. Johnson and Mr. Chalmers upon the BrightlightElectric Company was a complicated affair, but, upon the whole, highlyfavorable. It was an old establishment, the first electric companythat had been formed in the city, and it held, besides some minorconcessions, an ancient franchise for the exclusive supply of twelveof the richest down-town blocks, this franchise, made by a generousboard of city fathers, still having twenty years to run. The concern'sequipment was old and much of it needed renewal, but its financialaffairs were in good shape, except for a mortgage of a hundredthousand dollars held by one J. W. Williams. 

"About this mortgage, " Mr. Chalmers advised Mr. Burnit; "its timelimit expires within two months, and I have no doubt that is whySharpe wants to put additional capital into the concern. Moreover, Williams is notoriously reputed a lieutenant of Sam Stone's, and it isquite probable that Stone is the real holder of the mortgage. "

"I don't see where it makes much difference, so long as the mortgagehas to be paid, whether it is paid to Stone or to somebody else, " saidBobby reflectively. 

"I don't see any difference myself, " agreed Chalmers, "except that Iam suspicious of that whole crowd, since Sharpe is only a figureheadfor Stone. I find that Sharpe is credited with holding two hundredthousand dollars' worth of the present stock. The majority of theConsumers Company and a good share of the United are also in his name. Just how all these facts have a bearing upon each other I can not atpresent state, but in view of the twenty years' franchise, and of thefact that you will hold undisputed control, I do not see but that youhave a splendid investment here. The contract for the city lighting ofthose twelve blocks is ironclad, and the franchise for exclusiveprivate lighting and power is exclusive so long as 'reasonablysatisfactory service' is maintained. As this has been undisputed forthirty years I don't think you need have much fear upon that score, "and Chalmers smiled. 

In the afternoon of that same day Sharpe called up. 

"What dinner engagement have you for to-night?" he inquired. 

"None, " replied Bobby, after a moment of hesitation. 

"Then I want you to dine with me at the Spender. Can you make it?"

"I guess so, " replied Bobby reluctantly, after another hesitant pause. "What time, say?"

"About seven. Just inquire at the desk. I'll have a dining-roomreserved. "

Bobby was very thoughtful as he arrayed himself for dinner, and he wasstill more thoughtful when, a boy ushering him into the cozy littleprivate dining-room, he found the over-dazzling young Mrs. Sharpe withher husband. She greeted the handsome young Mr. Burnit mosteffusively, clasping his hand warmly and rolling up her large eyes athim while Mr. Sharpe looked on with smiling approval. Bobbyexperienced that strange conflict which most men have known, a feelingof revulsion at war with the undoubted lure of the women. She was oneof those who deliberately make appeal through their femininity alone. 

"Such a pleasure to meet you, " she said in the most silvery of voices. "I have heard so much of Mr. Burnit and his polo skill. "

"It's the best trick I do, " confessed Bobby, laughing. 

"That's because Mr. Burnit hasn't found his proper forte as yet, "interposed Sharpe. "He was really cut out for the illuminatingbusiness. " And he led the way to the table, upon which Bobby hadalready noted that five places were laid. 

"A couple of our friends might drop in, " said the host in explanation;"they usually do. "

"If it's Sam and Billy we're not going to wait for them, " said Mrs. Sharpe with a languishing glance at Bobby. "They're always ages andages late, if they come at all. Frank, where are those cocktails? I'mrunning down. "

She took the drink with an avidity Bobby was not used to seeing amonghis own women friends, and almost immediately it heightened hervivacity. There could be no question that she was a fascinating woman. Again Bobby had that strange sense of revulsion, and again he wasconscious that, in spite of her trace of a tendency to indecorum, there was a subtle appeal in her; one, however, that he shrank fromanalyzing. Her talk was mostly of the places she had been, with almostpathetic little mention now and then of unattainable people. Evidentlyshe craved social position, in spite of the fact that she was for evershut out from it. 

While they were upon the fish the door opened and two men came in. With a momentary frown Bobby recognized both; one of them the greatSam Stone, and the other William Garland, a rich young cigarmanufacturer, quite prominent in public affairs. The latter he hadmet; the former he inspected quite curiously as he acknowledged theintroduction. 

Stone gave one the idea that he was extremely heavy; not that he wasso grossly stout, although he was large, but he seemed to convey animpression of tremendous weight. His features and his expression wereheavy, his eyes were heavy-lidded, and he was taciturnity itself. Hegave Bobby a quick scrutiny from head to foot, and in that instant hadweighed him, measured him, catalogued and indexed him for futurereference for ever. Stone's only spoken word had been a hoarseacknowledgment of his introduction, and as soon as the entrée came onhe attacked it with a voracious appetite, which, however, did notprevent him from weighing and absorbing in silence every word that wasspoken in his hearing. Bobby found himself wondering how thisunattractive man could have secured his tremendous following, in spiteof the fact that Stone "never broke a promise and never went back on afriend, " qualities which would go far toward establishing any man inthe esteem of mankind. 

It was not until the appearance of the salad that any allusion wasmade to business, and then Garland, upon an impatient signal fromStone, turned to Bobby with the suavity of which he was thoroughmaster. 

"Mr. Sharpe tells me that you consider taking a dip into the publicutilities line, " he suggested. 

Instantly three of them bent an attention upon Bobby so straight thatit might have been palpable even to him, had not Stone suddenlylighted a match to attract their attention, and glared at them. 

"I have already decided, " said Bobby frankly, seeing no reason forfencing. "My legal and business advisers tell me that it would be agood investment, and I am ready to take hold of the BrightlightElectric as soon as the formalities can be arranged. "

Stone grunted his approval, and immediately rose, looking at hiswatch. 

"Pleased to have met you, Mr. Burnit, " he rumbled hoarsely, and tookhis coat and hat. "Sorry I can't stay. Promised to meet a man. "

"Coming back?" asked Garland. 

"Might, " responded the other, and was gone. 

As soon as Stone had left, the trifle of strain that had been apparentprior to Bobby's very decided statement that he would go into thebusiness, was lifted; and Mrs. Sharpe, pink of cheek and sparkling ofeye and exhilarated by the wine to her utmost of purely physicalattractiveness, moved when the coffee was served to a chair betweenBobby and Garland, and, gifted with a purring charm, exerted herselfto the utmost to please the new-comer. She puzzled Bobby. The womanwas an entirely new type to him, and he could not fathom her. 

With the clearing of the table more champagne was brought, and Bobbybegan to have an uneasy dread of a "near-orgie, " such as wasassociated in the minds of the knowing ones with this crowd. Sharpe, however, quickly removed this fear, for, pushing aside his own glasswith a bare sip after it had been filled, he drew forth a pencil andproduced some papers which he spread before Bobby. 

"I imagined that you would have a very favorable report on theBrightlight Electric, " he said with a smile, "so I took the liberty ofbringing along an outline of my plan for reorganization. If Mr. Garland and Mrs. Sharpe will excuse us for talking shop we mightglance over them together. "

"You're selfish, " pouted Mrs. Sharpe quite prettily, but, nevertheless, she turned her exclusive attention to Garland for thetime being. 

With considerable interest Bobby plunged into the business at hand. Here was a well-established concern that had been doing business forthree decades, which had been paying ten per cent. Dividends foryears, and which would doubtless continue to do so for many years tocome. An opportunity to obtain control of it solved his problem ofinvestment at once, and he strove to approach its intricacies withintelligence. He became vaguely aware, by and by, that just behind himGarland and Mrs. Sharpe were carrying on a most animated conversationin an undertone interspersed with much laughter, and once, with astart of annoyance, he overheard Garland telling a slightly _risqué_story, at which Mrs. Sharpe laughed softly and with evident relish. Heglanced around involuntarily. Garland had his arm across the back ofher chair, and they were leaning toward each other in a closeproximity which Bobby reflected with sudden savageness could notpossibly occur if that were his wife; nor was he much softened by thelater reflection that, in the first place, a woman of her type nevercould have been his wife, and that, in the second place, it was notthe man who was to blame, nor the woman so much, as Sharpe himself. Indeed, Bobby somehow gained the impression that the others floutedand despised Sharpe and held him as a weakling. 

His glance was but a fleeting one, and he turned from them with a lookwhich Sharpe, noting, misinterpreted. 

"I had hoped, " he said, "to go into this thing very thoroughly, sothat we could begin the reorganization at once, with the preliminariescompletely understood; but if we are detaining you from anyengagement, Mr. Burnit--"

"Not at all, not at all, " the highly-interested Bobby hastened toassure him. "I have no engagements whatever to-night, and my time isentirely at your disposal. "

"Then let's drop down to the theater, " suddenly interposed Mrs. Sharpe. "You can talk your dust-dry business there just as well ashere. Billy, telephone down to the Orpheum and see if they have abox. "

Bobby was far too unsuspecting to understand that he had beendeliberately trapped. Though not of the ultra-exclusives, his socialposition was an excellent one and he had the entrée everywhere. To beseen publicly with young Burnit was a step upward, as Mrs. Sharpe sawit, in that forbidding and painful social climb. 

Bobby started with dismay when Garland stepped to the telephone, buthe was fairly caught, and he realized it in time to check theinvoluntary protest that rose to his lips. He had acknowledged thathis time was free and at their disposal, and he regretted deeply thatno good, handy lie came to his rescue. 

They arrived at the theater between acts, and with the full blaze ofthe auditorium upon them. Bobby's comfort was not at all heightenedwhen Stone almost immediately followed them in. He had firmly made uphis mind as they entered to obtain a place in the rear corner of thebox, where he could not be seen; but he was not prepared for thegeneralship of Mrs. Sharpe, who so manoeuvered it as to force him tothe very edge, between herself and Garland, and, as she turned to himwith a laughing remark which, in pantomime, had all the confidentialunderstanding of most cordial and intimate acquaintanceship, Bobbyglanced apprehensively across at the other side of the proscenium-arch. There, in the opposite box, staring at him in shocked amazement, satAgnes Elliston!

"But Agnes, " protested Bobby at the Elliston home next day, "I couldnot possibly help it. "

"No?" she inquired incredulously. "I don't imagine that any onestrongly advised you to have anything to do with Mr. Sharpe--and itwas through him that you met _her_. Perhaps it is just as well that ithappened, however, because it has shown you just how you were about tobecome involved. "

Bobby swallowed quite painfully. His tongue was a little dry. 

"Well, the fact of the matter is, " he admitted, reddening andstammering, "that I have already 'become involved, ' if that's the wayyou choose to put it; for--for--I signed an agreement with Sharpe, andan application for increase of capitalization, this morning. "

"You don't mean it!" she gasped. "How could you?"

"Why not?" he demanded. "Agnes, it seems quite impossible for you todivorce business and social affairs. I tell you they have absolutelynothing to do with each other. The opportunity Sharpe offered me is asplendid one. Chalmers and Johnson investigated it thoroughly, andboth advise me that it is quite an unusually good chance. "

"You didn't seem to be able to divorce business and social affairslast night, " she reminded him rather sharply, returning to the mainpoint at issue and ignoring all else. 

There was the rub. She could not get out of her mind the picture ofMrs. Sharpe chatting gaily with him, smiling up at him and all butfawning upon him, in full view of any number of people who knew bothAgnes and Bobby. 

"You have made a deliberate choice of your companions, Mr. Burnit, after being warned against them from more than one source, " she toldhim, aflame with indignant jealousy, but speaking with the rigiditycommon in such quarrels, "and you may abide by your choice. "

"Agnes!" he protested. "You don't mean--"

"I mean just this, " she interrupted him coldly, "that I certainly cannot afford to be seen in public, and don't particularly care toentertain in private, any one who permits himself to be seen in publicwith, or entertained in private by, the notorious Mrs. Frank L. Sharpe. "

They were both of them pale, both trembling, both stiffened by hurtand rebellious pride. Bobby gazed at her a moment in a panic, and sawno relenting in her eyes, in her pose, in her compressed lips. She wasstill thinking of the way Mrs. Sharpe had looked at him. 

"Very well, " said he, quite calmly; "since our arrangements for thisevening are off, I presume I may as well accept that invitation todine at Sharpe's, " and with this petty threat he left the house. 

At the Idlers' he was met by a succession of grins that were moreaggravating because for the most part they were but scantilyexplained. Nick Allstyne, indeed, did take him into a corner, with avast show of secrecy, requested him to have an ordinance passed, through his new and influential friends, turning Bedlow Park into apolo ground; while Payne Winthrop added insult to injury by shakinghands with him and most gravely congratulating him--but upon what hewould not say. Bobby was half grinning and yet half angry when he leftthe club and went over for his usual half hour at the gymnasium. Professor Henry H. Bates was also grinning. 

"See you're butting in with the swell mob, " observed Mr. Batescheerfully. "Getting your name in the paper, ain't you, along with thefake heavyweights and the divorces?" and before Bobby's eyes he thrusta copy of the yellowest of the morning papers, wherein it was setforth that Mr. And Mrs. Frank L. Sharpe had entertained a notable boxparty at the Orpheum, the night before, consisting of Samuel Stone, William Garland and Robert Burnit, the latter of whom, it was rumored, was soon to be identified with the larger financial affairs of thecity, having already contracted to purchase a controlling interest inthe Brightlight Electric Company. The paper had more to say about thesignificance of Bobby's appearance in this company, as indicating thenew political move which sought to ally the younger business elementwith the progressive party that had been so long in safe, sane andconservative control of municipal affairs, except for the temporarysetback of the recent so-called "citizens' movement" hysteria. Bobbyfrowned more deeply as he read on, and Mr. Bates grinned more and morecheerfully. 

"Here's where it happens, " he observed. "On the level, Bobby, did theyhook you up on this electric deal?"

"What's the matter with it?" demanded Bobby. "After thoroughinvestigation by my own lawyer and my own bookkeeper, the Brightlightproves to have been a profitable enterprise for a great many years, and is in as good condition now as it ever was. Why shouldn't I gointo it?"

Biff winked. 

"Because it's no fun being the goat, " he replied. "Say, tell me, didyou ever earn a pull with this bunch?"

"No. "

"Well, then, why should they hand you anything but the buzzer? If thisis a good stunt don't you suppose they'd keep it at home? Don't yousuppose that Stone could go out and get half the money in this town, if he wanted it, to put behind a deal that was worth ten per cent. Ayear and pickings? I don't care what your lawyer or what Johnson saysabout it, I know the men. This boy Garland is a good sport, all right, but he's for the easy-money crowd every time--and they're going tomake the next mayor out of him. Our local Hicks would rather be robbedby a lot of friendly stick-up artists than have their money wasted bya lot of wooden-heads, and after this election the old Stone gang willhave their feet right back in the trough; yes! This is the way Ifigure the dope. They've framed it up to dump the BrightlightElectric, and you're the fall guy. So wear pads in your derby, becausethe first thing you know the hammer's going to drop on your coco. "

"How do you find out so much, Biff?" returned Bobby, smiling. 

"By sleeping seven hours a day in place of twenty-four. If some of themarks I know would only cough up for a good, reliable alarm clockthey'd be better off. "

"Meaning me, of course, " said Bobby. "For that I'll have to manhandleyou a little. Where's your gloves?"

For fifteen minutes they punched away at each other with soft glovesas determinedly and as energetically as if they were deadly enemies, and then Bobby went back up to his own office. He found Applerodjubilant and Johnson glum. Already Applerod heard himself saying tohis old neighbors: "As Frank L. Sharpe said to me this morning--, " or:"I told Sharpe--, " or: "Say! Sam Stone stopped at my deskyesterday--, " and already he began to shine by this reflected glory. 

"I hear that you have decided to go into the Brightlight Electric, " heobserved. 

"Signed all the papers this morning, " admitted Bobby. 

"Allow me to congratulate you, sir, " said Applerod, but Johnsonsilently produced from an index case a plain, gray envelope, which hehanded to Bobby. 

It was inscribed:

 _To My Son Upon His Putting Good Money Into any Public Service Corporation_

and it read:

 "When the manipulators of public service corporations tire of skinning the dear public in bulk, they skin individual specimens just to keep in practice. If you have been fool enough to get into the crowd that invokes the aid of dirty politics to help it hang people on street-car straps, just write them out a check for whatever money you have left, and tell your trustee you are broke again; because you are not and never can be of their stripe, and if you are not of their stripe they will pick your bones. Turn a canary loose in a colony of street sparrows and watch what happens to it. "

Bobby folded up the letter grimly and went into his private room, where he thought long and soberly. That evening he went out toSharpe's to dinner. As he was about to ring the bell, he stopped, confronted by a most unusual spectacle. Through the long plate-glassof the door he could see clearly back through the hall into thelibrary, and there stood Mrs. Sharpe and William Garland in a tableau"that would have given Plato the pip, " as Biff Bates might haveexpressed it had he known about Plato. At that moment Sharpe camesilently down the stairs and turned, unobserved, toward the library. Seeing that his wife and Garland were so pleasantly engaged, he veryconsiderately turned into the drawing-room instead, _and as he enteredthe drawing-room he lit a cigarette_! Bobby, vowing angrily that therecould never be room in the Brightlight for both Sharpe and himself, did not ring the bell. Instead, he dropped in at the first publictelephone and 'phoned his regrets. 

"By the way, " he added, "how soon will you need me again?"

"Not before a week, at least, " Sharpe replied. 

"Very well, then, " said Bobby; "I'll be back a week from to-day. "

Immediately upon his arrival down-town he telegraphed the joyous newsto Jack Starlett, in Washington, to prepare for an old-fashionedloafing bee. 

CHAPTER XV

A STRANGE CONNECTION DEVELOPS BETWEEN ELECTRICITY AND POLITICS

Chalmers, during Bobby's absence, secured all the secret informationthat he could concerning the Brightlight Electric, but nothing to itsdetriment transpired in that investigation, and when he returned, Bobby, very sensibly as he thought, completed his investment. He paidhis two hundred and fifty thousand dollars into the coffers of thecompany, and, at the first stock-holders' meeting, voting this stockand the ten shares he had bought from Sharpe at a hundred andseventy-two, he elected his own board of directors, consisting ofChalmers, Johnson, Applerod, Biff Bates and himself, giving one shareof stock to each of the other four gentlemen so that they would beeligible. The remaining two members whom he allowed to be elected wereSharpe and J. W. Williams, and the board of directors promptly electedBobby president and treasurer, Johnson secretary and Chalmersvice-president--a result which gave Bobby great satisfaction. Once hehad been frozen out of a stock company; this time he had absolutecontrol, and he found great pleasure in exercising it, though againstChalmers' protest. With swelling triumph he voted to himself, throughhis "dummy" directors, the salary of the former president--twelvethousand dollars a year--though he wondered a trifle that PresidentEastman submitted to his retirement with such equanimity, and after hewalked away from that meeting he considered his business career asaccomplished. He was settled for life if he wished to remain in thebusiness, the salary added to the dividends on two hundred and sixtythousand dollars worth of stock bringing his own individual income upto a quite respectable figure. If there were no further revenue to bederived from the estate of John Burnit, he felt that he had a veryfair prospect in life, indeed, and could, no doubt, make his way verynicely. 

He had been unfortunate enough to find Agnes Elliston "not at home"upon the two occasions when he had called since their disagreementupon the subject of the Sharpes, but now he called her up by telephoneprecisely as if nothing had happened, and explained to her how goodhis prospects were; good enough, in fact, he added, that he could lookmatrimony very squarely in the eye. 

"Allow me to congratulate you, " said Agnes sweetly. "I presume I'llread presently about the divorce that precedes your marriage, " and shehung up the receiver; all of which, had Bobby but paused to reflectupon it, was a very fair indication that all he had to do was to jumpin his automobile and call on Aunt Constance Elliston, force his wayupon the attention of Agnes and browbeat that young lady into animmediate marriage. He chose, on the contrary, to take the matter moregloomily, and Johnson, after worrying about him for three dismal days, consulted Biff Bates. But Biff, when the problem was propounded tohim, only laughed. 

"His steady has lemoned him, " declared Biff. "Any time a guy's makingplenty of money and got good health and ain't married, and goes aroundwith an all-day grouch, you can play it for a one to a hundredfavorite that his entry's been scratched in the solitaire diamondstakes. "

"Uh-huh, " responded the taciturn Johnson, and stalked back with grimpurpose to the Electric Company's office, of which Bobby and Johnsonand Applerod had taken immediate possession. 

The next morning Johnson handed to Bobby one of the familiar grayenvelopes, inscribed:

 _To My Son Upon the Occasion of His Having a Misunderstanding with Agnes Elliston_

He submitted the envelope with many qualms and misgivings, thoughwithout apology, but one glance at Bobby's face as that younggentleman read the inscription relieved him of all responsibility inthe matter, for if ever a face showed guilt, that face was the face ofBobby Burnit. In the privacy of the president's office Bobby read thebriefest note of the many that his forethoughted father had leftbehind him in Johnson's charge:

 "You're a blithering idiot!"

That was all. Somehow, that brief note seemed to lighten the gloom, tolift the weight, to remove some sort of a barrier, and he actuallylaughed. Immediately he called up the Ellistons. He received theinformation from the housekeeper that Agnes and Aunt Constance hadgone to New York on an extended shopping trip, and thereby he lost hisgreatest and only opportunity to prove that he had at last beensuccessful in business. That day, all the stock which Frank L. Sharpehad held began to come in for transfer, in small lots of from ten totwenty shares, and inside a week not a certificate stood in Sharpe'sname. All the stock held by Williams also came in for transfer. Bobbywent immediately to see Sharpe, and, very much concerned, inquiredinto the meaning of this. Mr. Sharpe was as pleasant as Christmasmorning. 

"To tell you the truth, Mr. Burnit, " said he, "there were several verygood reasons. In the first place, I needed the money; in the secondplace, you were insistent upon control and abused it; in the thirdplace, since the increased capitalization and change of management thequotations on Brightlight Electric dropped from one-seventy-two toone-sixty-five, and I got out before it could drop any lower. You willgive me credit for selling the stock privately and in small lots whereit could not break the price. However, Mr. Burnit, I don't see wherethe sale of my stock affects you in any way. You have the BrightlightElectric now in good condition, and all it needs to remain a goodinvestment is proper management. "

"I'm afraid it needs more than that, " retorted Bobby. "I'm afraid itneeds to be in a position to make more money for other people than formyself;" through which remark it may be seen that, though perhaps atrifle slow, Bobby was learning. 

Another lesson awaited him. On the following morning every paper inthe city blazed with the disquieting information that the Consumers'Electric Light and Power Company and the United Illuminating and FuelCompany were to be consolidated! Out of the two old concerns afifty-million-dollar corporation was to be formed, and a certainportion of the stock was to be sold in small lots, as low, even, asone share each, so that the public should be given a chance toparticipate in this unparalleled investment. Oh, it was to be atremendous boon to the city!

Bobby, much worried, went straight to Chalmers. 

"So far as I can see you have all the best of the bargain, " Chalmersreassured him. "The Consumers', already four times watered and quotedat about seventy, is to be increased from two to five million beforethe consolidation, so that it can be taken in at ten million. TheUnion, already watered from one to nine million in its few briefyears, takes on another hydraulic spurt and will be bought for twentymillion. Of the thirty million dollars which is to be paid for the oldcorporation, nineteen million represents new water, the most of whichwill be distributed among Stone and his henchmen. The other twentymillion will go to the dear public, who will probably be given oneshare of common as a bonus with each share of preferred, and pay tenmillion sweaty dollars for it. Do you think this new company expectsto pay dividends? On their plants, worth at a high valuation, fivemillion dollars, and their new capital of ten million, a profit mustbe earned for fifty million dollars' worth of stock, and it can not bedone. Within a year I expect to see Consolidated Illuminating andPower Company stock quoted at around thirty. By that time, however, Stone and his crowd will have sold theirs, and will have cleaned upmillions. Brightlight Electric was probably too small a factor to beconsidered in the consolidation. Did you pay off that mortgage? ThenStone has his hundred thousand dollars; the back salary list ofStone's henchmen has been paid up with your money; Sharpe and Williamshave converted their stock and Stone's into cash at a fancy figure;Eastman is to be taken care of in the new company and they aresatisfied. In my estimation you are well rid of the entire crowd, unless they have some neat little plan for squeezing you. But I'lltell you what I would do. I would go direct to Stone, and see what hehas to say. "

Bobby smiled ironically at himself as he climbed the dingy stairs upwhich it was said that every man of affairs in the city must sooner orlater toil to bend the knee, but he was astonished when he walked intothe office of Stone to find it a narrow, bare little room, with thedoor wide open to the hall. There was an old, empty desk in it--forStone never kept nor wrote letters--and four common kitchen chairs forwaiting callers. At the desk near the one window sat Stone, and overhim bent a shabby-looking man, whispering. Stone, gruntingoccasionally, looked out of the window while he listened, and when theman was through gave him a ten-dollar bill. 

"It's all right, " Stone said gruffly. "I'll be in court myself at teno'clock to-morrow morning, and you may tell Billy that I'll get himout of it. "

Another man, a flashily-dressed fellow, was ahead of Bobby, and he, too, now leaned over Stone and whispered. 

"Nothing doing, " rumbled Stone. 

The man, from his gestures, protested earnestly. 

"Nix!" declared Stone loudly. "You threw me two years ago this fall, and you can't come back till you're on your uppers good and proper. Idon't want to see you nor hear of you for another year, and youneedn't send any one to me to fix it, because it can't be fixed. Nowbeat it. I'm busy!"

The man, much crestfallen, "beat it. " Bobby was thankful that therewas no one else waiting when it was his turn to approach the Mogul. Stone shook hands cordially enough. 

"Mr. Stone, " inquired Bobby, "how does it come that the BrightlightElectric Company was not offered a chance to come into this newconsolidation?"

"How should I know?" asked Stone in reply. 

"It is popularly supposed, " suggested Bobby, smiling, "that you know agreat deal about it. "

Mr. Stone ignored that supposition completely. 

"Mr. Burnit, how much political influence do you think you couldswing?"

"Frankly, I never thought of it, " said Bobby surprised. 

"You belong to the Idlers' Club, you belong to the Traders' Club, tothe Fish and Game, the Brassie, the Gourmet, and the Thespian Clubs. You are a member of the board of governors in three of these clubs, and are very popular in all of them. A man like you, if he would getwise, could swing a strong following. "

"Possibly, " admitted Bobby dryly; "although I wouldn't enjoy it. "

"One-third of the members of the Traders' Club do not vote, more thanhalf of the members of the Fish and Game and the Brassie do not vote, none of the members of the other clubs vote at all, " went on Mr. Stone. "They ain't good citizens. If you're the man that can stir themup the right way you'd find it worth while. "

"But just now, " evaded Bobby, "whom did you say I should see aboutthis consolidation?"

"Sharpe, " snapped Stone. "Good day, Mr. Burnit. " And Bobby walked awayrather belittled in his own estimation. 

He had been offered an excellent chance to become one of Stone'spolitical lieutenants, had been given an opportunity to step up to thepie counter, to enjoy the very material benefits of the Stone style ofmunicipal government; and in exchange for this he had only to sell hisfellows. He knew now that his visit to Sharpe would be fruitless, thatbefore he could arrive at Sharpe's office that puppet would have had atelephone message from Stone; yet, his curiosity aroused, he saw thething through. Mr. Sharpe, upon his visit, met Bobby as coldly as theJanuary morning when the Christmas bills come in. 

"We don't really care for the Brightlight Electric in the combinationat all, " said Mr. Sharpe, "but if you wish to come in at a valuationof five hundred thousand I guess we can find a place for you. "

"Let me understand, " said Bobby. "By a valuation of five hundredthousand dollars you mean that the Brightlight stock-holders canexchange each share of their stock for one share in the Consolidated?"

"That's it, precisely, " said Mr. Sharpe without a smile. 

"You're joking, " objected Bobby. "My stock in the Brightlight is worthto-day one hundred and fifty dollars a share. My two hundred and sixtythousand dollars' worth of stock in the Consolidated would not beworth par, even, to-day. Why do you make this discrimination when youare giving the stock-holders of the Consumers' an exchange of fiveshares for one, and the stock-holders of the United an exchange oftwenty shares for nine?"

"We need both those companies, " calmly explained Sharpe, "and we don'tneed the Brightlight. "

"Is that figure the best you will do?"

"Under the circumstances, yes. "

"Very well then, " said Bobby; "good day. "

"By the way, Mr. Burnit, " Sharpe said to him with a return of thecharming smile which had been conspicuously absent on this occasion, "we needn't consider the talk entirely closed as yet. It might bepossible that we would be able, between now and the first of the nextmonth, when the consolidation is to be completed, to make you a muchmore liberal offer to come in with us; to be one of us, in fact. "

Bobby sat down again. 

"How soon may I see you about it?" he asked. 

"I'll let you know when things are shaped up right. By the way, Mr. Burnit, you are a very young man yet, and just starting upon yourcareer. Really you ought to look about you a bit and study whatadvantages you have in the way of personal influence and following. "

"I have never counted that I had a 'following. '"

"I understand that you have a very strong one, " insisted Sharpe. "Whatyou ought to do is to see Mr. Stone. "

"I have been to see him, " replied Bobby with a smile. 

"So I understand, " said Sharpe dryly. "By the way, next Tuesday I amto be voted upon in the Idlers'. You are on the board of governors upthere, I believe?"

"Yes, " said Bobby steadily. 

Sharpe studied him for a moment. 

"Well, come around and see me about this consolidation on Wednesday, "he suggested, "and in the meantime have another talk with Stone. Byall means, go and see Stone. "

 * * * * *

"Johnson, " asked Bobby, later, "what would you do if a man should askyou to sell him your personal influence, your self-respect and yourimmortal soul?"

"I'd ask his price, " interposed Applerod with a grin. 

"You'd never get an offer, " snapped Johnson to Applerod, "for youhaven't any to sell. Why do you ask, Mr. Burnit?"

Bobby regarded Johnson thoughtfully for a moment. 

"I know how to make the Brightlight Electric Company yield me twohundred per cent. Dividends within a year or less, " he stated. 

"Through Stone?" inquired Johnson. 

"Through Stone, " admitted Bobby, smiling at Johnson's penetration. 

"I thought so. I guess your father has summed up, better than I couldput it, all there is to be said upon that subject. " And from hisindex-file he produced one of the familiar gray envelopes, inscribed:

 _To My Son Robert Upon the Subject of Bribery_

 "When a man sells his independence and the faith of his friends he is bankrupt. Both the taker and the giver of a bribe, even when it is called 'preferment, ' are like dogs with fleas; they yelp in their sleep; only the man gets callous after a while and the dog doesn't. Whoever the fellow is that's trying to buy your self-respect, go soak him in the eye, and pay your fine. "

"For once I agree most heartily with the governor, " said Bobby, and asa result he did not go to see Stone. Moreover, Frank L. Sharpe wasblackballed at the Idlers' Club with cheerful unanimity, and Bobbyfiguratively squared his shoulders to receive the blow that he wasconvinced must certainly fall. 

CHAPTER XVI

AGNES APPEARS PUBLICLY WITH MRS. SHARPE AND BIFF BATES HAS A ONE-ROUNDSCRAP

That night, though rather preoccupied by the grave consequences thatmight ensue on this flat-footed defiance of Stone and his crowd, Bobbywent to the theater with Jack Starlett and Jack's sister and mother. As they seated themselves he bowed gravely across the auditorium toAgnes and Aunt Constance Elliston, who, with Uncle Dan, wereentertaining a young woman relative from Savannah. He did not know howthe others accepted his greeting; he only saw Agnes, and she smiledquite placidly at him, which was far worse than if she had tilted herhead. Through two dreary, interminable acts he sat looking at thestage, trying to talk small talk with the Starletts and remainingabsolutely miserable; but shortly before the beginning of the last acthe was able to take a quite new and gleeful interest in life, for theyoung woman from Savannah came fluttering into the Elliston box, bearing in tow the beautiful and vivacious Mrs. Frank L. Sharpe!

Bobby turned his opera-glasses at once upon that box, and pressed JackStarlett into service. Being thus attracted, the ladies of theStarlett box, mystified and unable to extract any explanation from thetwo gleeful men, were compelled, by force of circumstances andcuriosity, also to opera-glass and lorgnette the sufferers. 

Like the general into which he was developing, Bobby managed to meetAgnes face to face in the foyer after the show. Tears of mortificationwere in her eyes, but still she was laughing when he strode up to herand with masterful authority drew her arm beneath his own. 

"Your carriage is too small for four, " Bobby calmly told Mr. Elliston, and, excusing himself from the Starletts, deliberately conducted Agnesto a hansom. As they got well under way he observed:

"You will notice that I make no question of being seen in publicwith--"

"Bobby!" she protested. "Violet did not know. The Sharpes visited inSavannah. His connections down there are quite respectable, and nodoubt Mrs. Sharpe, who is really clever, held herself verycircumspectly. "

"Fine!" said Bobby. "You will notice that I am quite willing to listento _you_. Explain some more. "

"Bobby!" she protested again, and then suddenly she bent forward andpressed her handkerchief to her eyes. 

Bobby was astounded. She was actually crying! In a moment he had herin his arms, was pressing her head upon his shoulder, was sayingsoothing things to her with perfectly idiotic volubility. For aninfinitesimally brief space Agnes yielded to that embrace, and thensuddenly she straightened up in dismay. 

"Good gracious, Bobby!" she exclaimed. "This hansom is all glass!"

He looked out upon the brilliantly lighted street with a reflex of herown consternation, but quickly found consolation. 

"Well, after all, " he reflected philosophically, "I don't believeanybody who saw me would blame me. "

"You're a perfectly incorrigible Bobby, " she laughed. "The only checkpossible to put upon you is to hold you rigidly to business. How areyou coming out with the Brightlight Electric Company? I have beendying to ask you about it. "

"I have a telephone in my office, " he reminded her. 

"I am completely ignoring that ungenerous suggestion, " she replied. 

"It wasn't sportsmanlike, " he penitently admitted. "Well, theBrightlight Electric is still making money, and Johnson has stoppedleaks to the amount of at least twenty thousand dollars a year, whichwill permit us to keep up the ten per cent. Dividends, even with ourincreased capitalization, and even without an increase of business. "

"Glorious!" she said with sparkling eyes. 

"Too good to be true, " he assured her. "They'll take it away from me. "

"How is it possible?" she asked. 

"It isn't; but it will happen, nevertheless, " he declared withconviction. 

He had already begun to spend his days and nights in apprehension ofthis, and as the weeks went on and nothing happened his apprehensiongrew rather than diminished. 

In the meantime, the Consolidated Illuminating and Power Company wentpompously on. The great combine was formed, the fifty million dollars'worth of stock was opened for subscription, and the company gave avastly expensive banquet in the convention hall of the Hotel Spender, at which a thousand of the city's foremost men were entertained, andwhere the cleverest after-dinner speakers to be obtained talked inrelays until long after midnight. Those who came to eat the rich foodand drink the rare wine and lend their countenances to the stupendouslocal enterprise, being shrewd business graduates who had cut theireye-teeth in their cradles, smiled and went home without any thoughtof investing; but the hard-working, economical chaps of the officesand shops, men who felt elated if, after five years of slavery, theycould show ten hundred dollars of savings, glanced in awe over thismagnificent list of names in the next day's papers. If the stock ofthe Consolidated Illuminating and Power Company was considered a goodinvestment by these generals and captains and lieutenants of finance, who, of course, attended this Arabian Nights banquet as investors, itmust certainly be a good investment for the corporals and privates. 

Immediately vivid results were shown. Immense electric signs, furnished at less than cost and some of them as big as the buildingsupon the roofs of which they were erected, began to makeconstellations in the city sky; buildings in the principal down-townsquares were studded, for little or nothing, with outside incandescentlights as thickly as wall space could be found for them, and the menwhose only automobiles are street-cars awoke to the fact that theircity was becoming intensely metropolitan; that it was blazing with theblaze of Paris and London and New York; that all this glitteringadvancement was due to the great new Consolidated Illuminating andPower Company, and more applications for stock were made!

Every applicant was supplied, but the treasury stock of the companyhaving been sold out, the scrip had to come from some place else, andit came through devious, secret ways from the holdings of such men asStone and Garland and Sharpe. 

During the grand orgie of illumination the election came on; the priceof gas and electricity went gloriously and recklessly down, and themen who were identified with the triumphantly successful newilluminating company were the leading figures in the campaign. Thepuerile "reform party, " the blunders of whose incompetence had beenridiculous, was swept out of existence; Garland was elected mayor bythe most overwhelming majority that had ever been known in the city, and with him was elected a council of the same political faith. SamStone, always in the background, always keeping his name out of thepapers as much as possible, came once more to the throne, and ownedthe city and all its inhabitants and all its business enterprises andall its public utilities, body and soul. 

One night, shortly after the new officials went into power, there wasno light in the twelve blocks over which the Brightlight Company hadexclusive control, nor any light in the outside districts it supplied. This was the first time in years that the company, equipped with anemergency battery of dynamos which now proved out of order, had everfailed for an instant of proper service. Candles, kerosene lamps andold gas fixtures, the rusty cocks of which had not been turned in adecade, were put hastily in use, while the streets were black with ablackness particularly Stygian, contrasted with the brilliantlyilluminated squares supplied by the Consolidated Company. All nightlong the mechanical force, attended by the worried but painfullyhelpless Bobby, pounded and tapped and worked in the grime, but it wasnot until broad daylight that they were able to discover the cause oftrouble. For two nights the lights ran steadily. On the third night, at about seven-thirty, they turned to a dull, red glow, and slowlydied out. This time it was wire trouble, and through the long night aslarge a force of men as could be mustered were tracing it. Not untilnoon of the next day was the leak found. 

It was a full week before that section of the city was for the thirdtime in darkness, but when this occurred the business men of thedistrict, who had been patient enough the first night and enduringenough the second, loosed their reins and became frantic. 

At this happy juncture the Consolidated Company threw an army ofcanvassers into those twelve monopolized blocks, and the canvassersdid not need to be men who could talk, for arguments were notnecessary. The old, worn-out equipment of the Brightlight Electric, and the fact that it was managed and controlled by men who knewnothing whatever of the business, its very president a young fellowwho had probably never seen a dynamo until he took charge, wereenough. 

Bobby, passing over Plum Street one morning, was surprised to see alarge gang of men putting in new poles, and when he reached the officehe asked Johnson about it. In two minutes he had definitelyascertained that no orders had been issued by the Brightlight ElectricCompany nor any one connected with it, and further inquiry revealedthe fact that these poles were being put up by the Consolidated. Hecalled up Chalmers at once. 

"I knew I'd hear from you, " said Chalmers, "and I have already been atwork on the thing. Of course, you saw what was in the papers. "

"No, " confessed Bobby. "Only the sporting pages. "

"You should read news, local and general, every morning, " scoldedChalmers. "The new city council, at their meeting last night, grantedthe Consolidated a franchise to put up poles and wires in thisdistrict for lighting. "

"But how could they?" expostulated Bobby. "Our contract with the cityhas several years to run yet, and guarantees us exclusive privilege tosupply light, both to the city and to private individuals, in thosetwelve blocks. "

"That cleverly unobtrusive joker clause about 'reasonably satisfactoryservice, '" replied Chalmers angrily. "By the way, have youinvestigated the cause of those accidents very thoroughly? Whetherthere was anything malicious about them?"

Bobby confessed that he had not thought of the possibility. 

"I think it would pay you to do so. I am delving into this thing asdeeply as I can, and with your permission I am going to call yourfather's old attorney, Mr. Barrister, into consultation. "

"Go ahead, by all means, " said Bobby, worried beyond measure. 

At five o'clock that evening Con Ripley came jauntily to the plant ofthe Brightlight Electric Company. Con was the engineer, and the worldwas a very good joke to him, although not such a joke that he everoverlooked his own interests. He spruced up considerably outside ofworking hours, did Con, and, although he was nearing forty, consideredhimself very much a ladies' man, also an accomplished athlete, andpositively the last word in electrical knowledge. He was donning hisworking garments in very leisurely fashion when a short, broad-shouldered, thickset young man came back toward him from theoffice. 

"You're Con Ripley?" said the new-comer by way of introduction. 

"Maybe, " agreed Con. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Assistant Works, " observed Professor Henry H. Bates. 

"Oh!" said Mr. Ripley in some wonder, looking from the soft cap of Mr. Bates to the broad, thick tan shoes of Mr. Bates, and then back up tothe wide-set eyes. "I hadn't heard about it. "

"No?" responded Mr. Bates. "Well, I came in to tell you. I don't knowenough about electricity to say whether you feed it with a spoon orfrom a bottle, but I'm here, just the same, to notice that the juiceslips through the wires all right to-night, all right. "

"The hell you are!" exclaimed Mr. Ripley, taking sudden umbrage atboth tone and words, and also at the physical attitude of Mr. Bates, which had grown somewhat threatening. "All right, Mr. Works, " and Mr. Ripley began to step out of his overalls; "jump right in and pushjuice till you get black in the face, while I take a little vacation. I've been wanting a lay-off for a long time. "

"You'll lay on, Bo, " dissented Mr. Bates. "Nix on the vacation. That'sjust the point. You're going to stick on the job, and I'm going tostick within four feet of you till old Jim-jams Jones shakes along toget his morning's morning; and it will be a sign of awful bad luck foryou if the lights in this end of town flicker a single flick any timeto-night. "

"Is that it?" Mr. Ripley wanted to know. "And if they should happen toflicker some what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know yet, " said Biff. "I'll knock your block off first andthink about it afterward!"

Mr. Ripley hastily drew his overalls back on and slipped the strapsover his shoulders with a snap. 

"You'll tell me when you're going to do it, won't you?" he askedbanteringly, and, a full head taller than Mr. Bates, glared down athim a moment in contempt. Then he laughed. "I'll give you ten to onethe lights will flicker, " he offered to bet. "I wouldn't stop such acunning chance for exercise for real money, " and, whirling upon hisheel, Mr. Ripley started upon his usual preliminary examination ofdynamos and engines and boilers. 

Quite nonchalantly Mr. Bates, puffing at a particularly villainousstogie and with his hands resting idly in his pockets, swung after Mr. Ripley, keeping within almost precisely four feet of him. In theboiler-room, Ripley, finding Biff still at his heels, said to thefireman, with a jerk of his thumb over his shoulder:

"Rocksey, be sure you keep a good head of steam on to-night if you'rea friend of mine. This is Mr. Assistant Works back here, and he's comein to knock my block off if the lights flicker. "

"Rocksey, " a lean man with gray beard-bristles like pins and withmuscles in astounding lumps upon his grimy arms, surveyed Mr. Bateswith a grin which meant volumes. 

"Ring a bell when it starts, will you, Con?" he requested. 

To this Biff paid not the slightest attention, gazing stolidly at thered fire where it shone through the holes of the furnace doors; butwhen Mr. Ripley moved away Biff moved also. Ripley introduced Biff inmuch the same terms to a tall man who was oiling the big, old-fashioned Corliss, and a sudden gleam came into the tall man'seyes as he recognized Mr. Bates, but he turned back to his oilingwithout smile or comment. Ripley eyed him sharply. 

"You'll hold the sponge and water-bottle for me, won't you, Daly?" heasked, with an evident attempt at jovial conciliation. 

Daly deliberately wiped the slender nose of his oil can and went onoiling. 

"What's the matter?" asked Ripley with a frown. "Got a grouch again?"

"Yes, I have, " admitted Daly without looking up, and shrugged hisshoulders. 

"Then cut it out, " said Ripley, "and look real unpeeved when somebodyhands you tickets to the circus. "

From that moment Mr. Ripley seemed to take a keen delight in goadingMr. Bates. He took a sudden dash half-way down the length of the longroom, as if going to the extreme other end of the plant, then suddenlywhirled and retraced his steps to meet Biff coming after him; made anequally sudden dart for the mysterious switch-board, and seized alever as if to throw it, but suddenly changed his mind, apparently, and went away, leaving Mr. Bates to infer that the throwing of thatparticular lever would leave them all in darkness; later, with Biffready to spring upon him, he threw that switch to show that it had noimportant function to perform at all. To all these and many moreingenious tricks to humiliate him, Mr. Bates paid not the slightestattention, but, as calmly and as impassively as Fate, kept as nearlyas he could to the four-foot distance he had promised. 

It was about ten o'clock when Biff, interested for a moment in theswitch-board, suddenly missed Ripley, and looking about him hastily hesaw the fireman standing in the door of the boiler-room grinning athim, while the other workmen--all of whom were of the old regime--werealso enjoying his discomfort; but Daly, catching his eye, noddedsignificantly toward the side-door which led upon the street. It wasan almost imperceptible nod, but it was enough for Biff, and he dashedout of that door. Half a block ahead of him he saw Ripley hurrying, and took after him with that light, cat-like run which is the heightof effortless and noiseless speed. Ripley, looking back hastily, hurried into a saloon, and he had scarcely closed the door when Biffentered after him, in time to see his man standing at the telephone, receiver in hand. It was the work of but an instant to grab Ripley bythe arm and jerk him away from the 'phone. Quickly recovering hisbalance, with a lunge of his whole body Ripley shot a swift fist atthe man who had interfered with him, but Biff, without shifting hisposition, jerked his head to one side and the fist shot harmlessly by. Before another blow could be struck, or parried, the bartender, abrawny giant, had rushed between them. 

"Let us alone, Jeff, " panted Ripley. "I've got all I can stand forfrom this rat. "

"Outside!" said Jeff with cold finality. "You can beat him to a pulpin the street, Con, but there'll be no scrimmage in this place withoutme having a hand in it. "

Ripley considered this ultimatum for a moment in silence, and then, toBiff's surprise, suddenly ran out of the door. It was a tight race tothe plant, and there, with Biff not more than two arms' length behindhim, Ripley jerked at a lever hitherto untouched, and instantly theplace was plunged into complete darkness. 

"There!" screamed Ripley. 

A second later Biff had grappled him, and together they went to thefloor. It was only a moment that the darkness lasted, however, fortall Tom Daly stood by the replaced switch, looking down at them inquiet joy. Immediately with the turning on of the light Biff scrambledto his feet like a cat and waited for Ripley to rise. It was Ripleywho made the first lunge, which Biff dexterously ducked, andimmediately after Biff's right arm shot out, catching his antagonist aglancing blow upon the side of the cheek; a blow which drew blood. Infuriated, again Ripley rushed, but was blocked, and for nearly aminute there was a swift exchange of light blows which did littledamage; then Biff found his opening, and, swinging about the axis ofhis own spine, threw the entire force of his body behind his rightarm, and the fist of that arm caught Ripley below the ear and droppedhim like a beef, just as Bobby came running back from, the office. 

"What are you doing here, Biff? What's the matter?" demanded Bobby, asRipley, dazed, struggled to his feet, and, though weaving, drewhimself together for another onslaught. 

"Matter!" snarled Biff. "I landed on a frame-up, that's all. Thisafternoon I saw Sharpe and this Ripley together in a bum wine-room onRiver Street, swapping so much of that earnest conversation that thepartitions bulged, and I dropped to the double-cross that's beinghanded out to you. I've been trying to telephone you ever since, butwhen I couldn't find you I came right down to run the plant. That'sall. "

"You're all right, Biff, " laughed Bobby, "but I guess we'll call thisa one-round affair, and I'll take charge. "

"Don't stop 'em!" cried Daly savagely, turning to Bobby. "Hand it tohim, Biff. He's a crook and an all-round sneak. He beat me out of thisjob by underhand means, and there ain't a man in the place that ain'ttickled to death to see him get the beating that's coming to him. Paste him, Biff!"

"Biff!" repeated Mr. Ripley, suddenly dropping his hands. "Biff who?"

"Mr. Biff Bates, the well-known and justly celebrated ex-championmiddleweight, " announced Bobby with a grin. "Mr. Ripley--Mr. Bates. "

"Biff Bates!" repeated Con Ripley. "Why didn't some of you guys tellme this was Biff Bates? Mr. Bates, I'm glad to meet you. " And withmuch respect he held forth his hand. 

"Go chase yourself, " growled Mr. Bates, in infinite scorn. 

Ripley replied with a sudden volley of abuse, couched in the vilest oflanguage, but to this Biff made no reply. He dropped his hands in hiscoat pockets, and, considering his work done, walked over to the walland leaned against it, awaiting further developments. 

"Daly, " asked Bobby sharply, breaking in upon Ripley's tirade, "areyou competent to run this plant?"

"Certainly, sir, " replied Daly. "I should have had the job four yearsago. I was promised it. "

"You may consider yourself in charge, then. Mr. Ripley, if you willwalk up to the office I'll pay you off. "

CHAPTER XVII

BOBBY'S MONEY IS ELECTROCUTED AND JOHN BURNIT'S SON WAKES UP

Bobby, jubilant, went to see Chalmers next day. The lawyer listenedgravely, but shook his head. 

"I'm bound to tell you, Mr. Burnit, that you have no case. You musthave more proof than this to bring a charge of conspiracy. Ripley hada perfect right to talk with Sharpe or to telephone to some one, andmere hot-headedness could explain his shutting off the lights. Yourover-enthusiastic friend Bates has ruined whatever prospect you mighthave had. Your suspicions once aroused, you should have let your mando as he liked, but should have watched him and caught him in a trapof some sort. Now it is too late. Moreover, I have bad news for you. Your contract for city lighting is ironclad, and can not be broken, but I saw to-day a paper signed by an overwhelming majority of yourprivate consumers that the service is not even 'reasonablysatisfactory, ' and that they wish the field open to competition. Withthis paper to back them, Stone's council granted the right to theConsolidated Company to erect poles, string wires and supply current. We can bring suit if you say so, but you will lose it. "

"Bring suit, then!" ordered Bobby vehemently. "Why, Chalmers, thecontract for the city lighting alone would cost the Brightlight moneyevery year. The profit has all been made from private consumers. "

"That's why you're losing it, " said Chalmers dryly. "The whole projectis very plain to me now. The Consumers and the United Companies nevercared to enter that field, because their controlling stock-holderswere also the Brightlight controlling stock-holders, and they couldget more money through the Brightlight than they could through theother companies; and so they led the public to believe that there wasno breaking the monopoly the Brightlight held upon their service. Now, however, they want to gain another stock-jobbing advertisement bydriving you out of the field. They planned from the first to wreck youfor just that purpose--to make Consolidated stock seem more desirablewhen the stock sales began to dwindle--and they are perfectly willingto furnish the consumers in your twelve blocks with current at theirpresent ridiculously low rate, because, with them, any possibleprofits to be derived from the business are insignificant compared tothe profits to be derived from the sale of their watered stock. Theprice of illumination and power, later, will _soar_! Watch it. They'rea very bright crowd, " and Mr. Chalmers paused to admire them. 

"In other words, " said Bobby glumly. "I am what Biff Bates told me Iwould be--the goat. "

"Precisely, " agreed Chalmers. 

"Begin suit anyhow, " directed Bobby, "and we'll see what comes of it. "

"By the way, " called Chalmers with a curious smile as Bobby opened thedoor; "I've just learned that one of the foremost enthusiasts in thiswhole manipulation has been quiet and conservative Silas Trimmer. "

Bobby did not swear. He simply slammed the door. 

Two days later Bobby was surprised to see Sharpe drop in upon him. 

"I understand you are bringing suit against the Consolidated forencroachment upon your territory, and against the city for abrogationof contract, " began Sharpe. 

"Yes, " said Bobby. 

"Don't you think it rather a waste of money, Mr. Burnit? I canguarantee you positively that you will not win either suit. "

"I'm willing to wait to find that out. "

"No use, " said Sharpe impatiently. "I'll tell you what we will do, Mr. Burnit. If you care to have us to do so, the Consolidated, a littlelater on, will absorb the Brightlight. "

"On what terms?" asked Bobby. 

"It all depends. We might discuss that later. There's another matterI'd like to speak with you about. Stone wants to see you, even yet. Iwant to tell you, Mr. Burnit, he can get along a great deal betterwithout you than you can without him, as you are probably willing toadmit by now. But he still wants you. Go and see Stone. "

"On--what--terms--will the Consolidated now absorb the Brightlight?"demanded Bobby sternly. 

"Well, " drawled Sharpe, with a complete change of manner, "theproperty has deteriorated considerably within a remarkably short spaceof time, but I should say that we would buy the Brightlight for threehundred thousand dollars in stock of the Consolidated, half preferredand half common. "

"And this is your very best offer?"

"The very best, " replied Sharpe, making no attempt to conceal hisexultant grin. 

"Not on your life, " declared Bobby. "I'm going to hold the Brightlightintact. I'm going to fulfill the city contract at a loss, if it takesevery cent I can scrape together, and then I'm going to enter politicsmyself. I'm going to drive Stone and his crowd out of this city, andwe shall see if we can not make a readjustment of the illuminatingbusiness on my basis instead of his. Good day, Mr. Sharpe. "

"Good day, sir, " said Sharpe, and this time he laughed aloud. 

At the door he turned. 

"I'd like to call your attention, young man, to the fact that a greatmany very determined gentlemen have announced their intention ofdriving Mr. Stone and his associates out of this city. You mightcompare that with the fact that Mr. Stone and his friends are all hereyet, and on top, " and with that he withdrew. 

"If I may be so bold as to say so, " said Mr. Applerod, worried topaleness by this foolish defiance of so great and good a man, "youhave made a very grave error, Mr. Burnit, very grave, indeed. It issuicidal to defy Mr. Sharpe, and through him _Mr. Stone_!"

"Will you shut up!" snarled Johnson to his ancient work-mate. "Mr. Burnit, I have no right to take the liberty, but I am going tocongratulate you, sir. Whatever follies inexperience may have led youto commit, you are, at any rate, sir, a _man_, like your father wasbefore you!" and by way of emphasis Johnson smacked his fist on hisdesk as he glared in Mr. Applerod's direction. 

"It's all very well to show fight, Johnson, " said Bobby, a littlewanly, "but just the same I have to acknowledge defeat. I am afraid Iboasted too much. Chalmers, after considering the matter, positivelyrefuses to bring suit. The whole game is over. I have the BrightlightCompany on my hands at a net dead loss of every cent I have sunk intoit, and it can not pay me a penny so long as these men remain inpower. I am going to fight them with their own weapons, but that is amatter of years. In the meantime, my third business attempt is ahideous failure. Where's the gray envelope, Johnson?"

"It is here, " admitted Johnson, and from his file took the missive inquestion. 

As Bobby took the letter from Johnson Agnes came into the office andswept toward him with outstretched hand. 

"It is perfectly shameful, Bobby! I just read about it!"

"So soon?" he wanted to know. 

She carried a paper in her hand and spread it before him. In the veryhead-line his fate was pronounced. "Brightlight Electric Tottering toIts Fall, " was the cheerful line which confronted him, and beneaththis was set forth the facts that every profitable contract heretoforeheld by the Brightlight Electric had been taken away from thatunfortunate concern, in which the equipment was said to be soinefficient as to render decent service out of the question, and that, having remaining to it only a money-losing contract for city lighting, business men were freely predicting its very sudden dissolution. Theitem, wherein the head-line took up more space than the news, wound upwith the climax statement that Brightlight stock was being freelyoffered at around forty, with no takers. 

To her surprise, Bobby tossed the paper on Johnson's desk and laughed. 

"I have been so long prepared for this bit of 'news' that it does notshock me much, " he said; "moreover, the lower this stock goes thecheaper I can buy it!"

"Buy it!" she incredulously exclaimed. 

"Exactly, " he stated calmly. "I presume that, as heretofore, I'll begiven another check, and I do not see any better place to put themoney than right here. I am going to fight!"

"Beg your pardon, sir, " said Johnson. "Your last remark was spokenloud enough to be taken as general, and I am compelled to give youthis envelope. "

Into his hands Johnson placed a mate to the missive which Bobby hadnot yet opened, and this one was inscribed:

 _To My Son Robert, Upon His Declaration that He Will Take Two Starts at the Same Business_

Bobby looked at the two letters in frowning perplexity, and thensilently walked into his own office, where Agnes followed him; and itwas she who closed the door. He sat down at his desk and held thatlast letter of his father's before him in dread. He had so airilybuilt up his program; and apprehension told him what this letter mightcontain! Presently he was conscious that Agnes' arm was slipped acrosshis shoulder. She was sitting upon the arm of his chair, and had benther cheek upon his head. So they read the curt message:

 "To throw good money after bad is like sprinkling salt on a cut. It only intensifies the pain and doesn't work much of a cure. In your case it is strictly forbidden. You must learn to cut your garment according to your cloth, to bite off only what you can chew, to lift no more than you can carry. Your next start must not be encumbered. "

"He's wrong!" declared Bobby savagely. 

"But if he is, " protested Agnes, "what can you do about it?"

"If his bequests are conditional I shall have to accept theconditions; but, nevertheless, I am going to fight; and I am going tokeep the Brightlight Electric!"

Mechanically he opened the other letter now. The contents were to thiseffect:

 _To My Son Upon His Losing Money in a Public Service Corporation_

 "Every buzz-saw claims some fingers. Of course you had to be a victim, but now you know how to handle a buzz-saw. The first point about it is to treat it with respect. When you realize thoroughly that a buzz-saw is dangerous, half the danger is gone. So, when your wound is healed, you might go ahead and saw, just as a matter of accomplishment. Bobby, how I wish I could talk with you now, for just one little half hour. "

Convulsively Bobby crumpled the letter in his hand and the tearsstarted to his eyes. 

"Bully old dad!" he said brokenly, and opened his watch-case, wherethe grim but humor-loving face of old John Burnit looked up at hisbeloved children. 

"And now what are you going to do?" Agnes asked him presently, whenthey were calmer. 

"Fight!" he vehemently declared. "For the governor's sake as well asmy own. "

"I just found another letter for you, sir, " said Johnson, handing inthe third of the missives to come in that day's mail from beyond theStyx. It was inscribed:

 _To My Son Robert Upon the Occasion of His Declaring Fight Against the Politicians Who Robbed Him_

 "Nothing but public laziness allows dishonest men to control public affairs. Any time an honest man puts up a sincere fight against a crook there's a new fat man in striped clothes. If you have a crawful and want to fight against dirty politics in earnest, jump in, and tell all my old friends to put a bet down on you for me. I'd as soon have you spend in that way the money I made as to buy yachts with it; and I can see where the game might be made as interesting as polo. Go in and win, boy. "

"And now what are you going to do?" Agnes asked him, laughing thistime. 

"Fight!" he declared exultantly. "I'm going to fight entirely outsideof my father's money. I'm going to fight with my own brawn and my ownbrain and my own resources and my own personal following! Why, Agnes, that is what the governor has been goading me to do. It is what allthis is planned for, and the governor, after all, is right!"

CHAPTER XVIII

SOME EMINENT ARTISTS AMUSE MEESTER BURNIT WHILE HE WAITS

One might imagine, after Bobby's heroic declarations, that, like youngDavid of old, he would immediately proceed to stride forth and slayhis giant. There stood his Goliath, full panoplied, sneering, waiting;but alas! Bobby had neither sling nor stone. It was all very well toannounce in fine frenzy that he would smash the Consolidated, destroythe political ring, drive Sam Stone and his henchmen out of town andwrest all his goods and gear from Silas Trimmer; but until he couldfind a place to plant his foot, descry an opening in the armor andprocure an adequate weapon, he might just as well bottle his fumingand wait; so Bobby waited. In the meantime he stuck very closely tothe Brightlight office, finding there, in the practice of pettyeconomics and the struggle with well-nigh impossible conditions, amplefood for thought. In a separate bank reposed the new fund of twohundred and fifty thousand dollars, which he kept religiously asidefrom the affairs of the Brightlight, and this fund also waited; forBobby was not nearly so feverish to find instant employment for it ashe had been with the previous ones--though he had endless chances. People with the most unheard of schemes seemed to have a peculiarscent for unsophisticated money, and not only local experts in thegentle art of separation flocked after him, but out of townspecialists came to him in shoals. To these latter he took greatsatisfaction in displaying the gem of his collection of post-mortemletters from old John Burnit:

 "You don't need to go away from home to be skinned; moreover, it isn't patriotic. "

That usually stopped them. He was growing quite sophisticated, wasBobby, quite able to discern the claws beneath the velvet paw, quitesuspicious of all the ingenious gentlemen who wanted to make a fortunefor him; and their frantic attempts to "get his goat, " as Biff Batesexpressed it, had become as good as a play to this wise young person, as also to the wise young person's trustee. 

Agnes, who was helping Bobby wait, came occasionally to the office ofthe Brightlight on business, and nearly always Bobby had reduced topaper some gaudy new scheme that had been proposed to him, over whichthey both might laugh. In great hilarity one morning they were goingover the prospectus of a plan to reclaim certain swamp lands inFlorida, when the telephone bell rang, and from Bobby's difficulty inunderstanding and his smile as he hung up the receiver, Agnes knewthat something else amusing had turned up. 

[Illustration: Little me to trot out and find an angel. Are you it?]

"It is from Schmirdonner, " he explained as he turned to her again. "He's the conductor of the orchestra at the Orpheum, you know. Igather from what he says that there are some stranded musicians herewho probably speak worse English than myself, and he's sending them upto me to see about arranging a benefit for them. You'd better wait; itmight be fun, or you might want to help arrange the benefit. "

"No, " disclaimed Agnes, laughing and drawing her impedimenta togetherfor departure, "I'll leave both the fun and the philanthropy to you. Iknow you're quite able to take care of them. I'll just wait longenough to hear how we're to get rid of the water down in Florida. Isuppose we bore holes in the ground and let it run out. "

"By no means, " laughed Bobby. "It's no where near so absurdly simpleas that, " and he turned once more to the prospectus which lay open onthe desk before them. 

Before they were through with it there suddenly erupted into the outeroffice, where Johnson and Applerod glared at each other day by dayover their books, a pandemonium of gabbling. Agnes, with a littleexclamation of dismay at the time she had wasted, rose in a hurry, andimmediately after she passed through the door there bounded into theroom a rotund little German with enormous and extremely thick glassesupon his knob of a nose, a grizzled mustache that poked straight up onboth sides of that knob, and an absurd toupee that flared straight outall around on top of the bald spot to which it was pasted. Behind himtrailed a pudgy man of so exactly the Herr Professor's height andbuild that it seemed as if they were cast in the same spherical mold, but he was much younger and had jet black hair and a jet blackmustache of such tiny proportions as to excite amazement and even awe. Still behind him was as unusually large young woman, fully a headtaller than either of the two men, who had an abundance of jet blackhair, and was dressed in a very rich robe and wrap, both of which weresomewhat soiled and worn. 

"Signor R-r-r-r-icardo, der grosse tenore--Mees-ter Burnit, "introduced the rotund little German, with a deep bow commensurate withthe greatness of the great tenor. "Signorina Car-r-r-avaggio--Mees-terBurnit. I, Mees-ter Burnit, _Ich bin_ Brofessor Frühlingsvogel. "

Bobby, for the lack of any other handy greeting, merely bowed andsmiled, whereupon Signorina Caravaggio, stepping into a breach whichotherwise would certainly have been embarrassing, seated herselfcomfortably upon the edge of Bobby's desk and swung one large butshapely foot while she explained matters. 

"It's like this, Mr. Burnit, " she confidently began: "when thatdried-up little heathen, Matteo, who tried to run the Neapolitan GrandOpera Company with stage money, got us this far on a tour that is adisgrace to the profession, he had a sudden notion that he neededocean air; so he took what few little dollars were in the treasury andhopped right on into New York. 

"Here we are, then, at the place we were merely 'to make connections, 'two hundred miles from our next booking and without enough money amongus to buy a postage stamp. We haven't seen a cent of salary for sixweeks, and the only thing we can do is to seize the props and sceneryand costumes, see if they can be sold, and disband, unless somebodygallops to the rescue in a hurry. Professor Frühlingsvogel happened toknow another Dutchman here who conducts an orchestra at the Orpheum, and he sent us to you. He said you knew all the swell set and couldstart a benefit going if anybody in town could. "

"Yes, " said Bobby, smiling; "Schmirdonner telephoned me just a fewminutes ago that the Herr Professor Frühlingsvogel would be up to seeme, and asked me to do what I could. How many of you are there?"

"Seventy-three, " promptly returned Signorina Caravaggio, "and allhungry. Forty singers and an orchestra of thirty--seventy--besidesprops and the stage manager and Herr Frühlingsvogel, who is themusical director. "

"Where are you stopping?" asked Bobby, aghast at the size of thecontract that was offered him. 

"We're not, " laughed the great Italian songstress. "We all went up andregistered at a fourth-rate place they call the Hotel Larken, butthat's as far as we got, for we were told before the ink was dry thatwe'd have to come across before we got a single biscuit; so there theyare, scattered about the S. R. O. Parts of that little two-by-twicehotel, waiting for little me to trot out and find an angel. Are youit?"

"I can't really promise what I can do, " hesitated Bobby, who had neverbeen able to refuse assistance where it seemed to be needed; "but I'llrun down to the club and see some of the boys about getting up asubscription concert for you. How much help will you need?"

"Enough to land us on little old Manhattan Island. "

"And there are over seventy of you to feed and take care of for, say, three days, and then to pay railroad fares for, " mused Bobby, a littlestartled as the magnitude of the demand began to dawn upon him. "Thenthere's the music-hall, advertising, printing and I suppose a score ofother incidentals. You need quite a pile of money. However, I'll godown to the club at lunch time and see what I can do for you. "

"I knew you would the minute I looked at you, " said the Signorinaconfidently, which was a compliment or not, the way one looked at it. "But, say; I've got a better scheme than that, one that will let youmake a little money instead of contributing. I understand the Orpheumhas next week dark, through yesterday's failure of The MarriedBachelor Comedy Company. Why don't you get the Orpheum for us and backour show for the week? We have twelve operas in our repertoire. Thescenery and props are very poor, the costumes are only half-way decentand the chorus is the rattiest-looking lot you ever saw in your life;but they can sing. They went into the discard on account of theirfaces, poor things. Suppose you come over and have a look. They'd meltyou to tears. "

"That won't be necessary, " hastily objected Bobby; "but I'll meet alot of the fellows at lunch, and afterward I'll let you know. "

"After lunch!" exclaimed the Signorina with a most expressive placingof her hands over her belt, whereat the Herr Professor and Der GrosseTenore both turned most wistfully to Bobby to see what effect thisweighty plea might have upon him. "Lunch!" she repeated. "If you wouldcarry a fork-full of steaming spaghetti into the Hotel Larken at thisminute you'd start a riot. Why, Mr. Burnit, if you're going to doanything for us you've got to get into action, because we've been upsince seven and we still want our breakfasts. "

"Breakfast!" exclaimed Bobby, looking hastily at his watch. It was noweleven-thirty. "Come on; we'll go right over to the Larken, whereverthat may be, " and he exhibited as much sudden haste as if he had seenseventy people actually starving before his very eyes. 

Just as the quartette stepped out of the office, Biff Bates, justcoming in, bustled up to Bobby with:

"Can I see you just a minute, Bobby? Kid Mills is coming around to myplace this afternoon. "

"Haven't time just now, Biff, " said Bobby; "but jump into the machinewith us and I'll do the 'chauffing. ' That will make room for all ofus. We can talk on the way to the Hotel Larken. Do you know where itis?"

"Me?" scorned Biff. "If there is an inch of this old town I can't putmy finger on in the dark, blindfolded, I'll have that inch dug out andthrown away. "

At the curb, with keen enjoyment of the joke of it all, Bobby gravelyintroduced Mr. Biff Bates, ex-champion middle-weight, to theseimported artists, but, very much to his surprise, Signorina Caravaggioand Professor Bates struck up an instant and animated conversationanent Biff's well-known and justly-famous victory over Slammer Young, and so interested did they become in this conversation that instead ofBiff's sitting up in the front seat, as Bobby had intended, theeminent instructor of athletics manoeuvered the Herr Professor intothat post of honor and climbed into the tonneau with Signor Ricardoand the Signorina, with the latter of whom he talked most volubly allthe way over, to the evidently vast annoyance of Der Grosse Tenore. 

The confusion of tongues must have been a very tame and quiet affairas compared to the polyglot chattering which burst upon Bobby's earswhen he entered the small lobby of the Hotel Larken. The male membersof the Neapolitan Grand Opera Company, almost to a man, were smokingcigarettes. There were swarthy little men and swarthy big men, thereseeming to be no medium sizes among them, while the women were themost wooden-featured lot that Bobby had ever encountered, and theentire crowd was swathed in gay but dingy clothing of the mostnondescript nature. Really, had Bobby not been assured that they weregrand opera singers he would have taken them for a lot of immigrants, for they had that same unhappy expression of worry. The principalscould be told from the chorus and the members of the orchestra fromthe fact that they stood aloof from the rest and from one another, gloomily nursing their grievances that they, each one the mostillustrious member of the company, should thus be put toinconvenience! It was a monstrous thing that they, the possessors ofglorious voices which the entire world should at once fall down andworship, should be actually hungry and out of money! It was, oh, unbelievable, atrocious, barbarous, positively inhuman!

With the entrance of the Signorina Caravaggio, bearing triumphantlywith her the neatly-dressed and altogether money-like Bobby Burnit, one hundred and forty wistful eyes, mostly black and dark brown, wereimmediately focused in eager interest upon the possible savior. Behindthe desk, perplexed and distracted but still grimly firm, stood frowzyWidow Larken herself, drawn and held to the post of duty by this vastand unusual emergency. Not one room had Madam Larken saved for allthese alien warblers, not one morsel of food had she loosed from hercapacious kitchen; and yet not one member of the company had shepermitted to stray outside her doors while Signorina Caravaggio andSignor Ricardo and the Herr Professor Frühlingsvogel had gone out tosecure an angel, two stout porters being kept at the front door toturn back the restless. If provision could be made to pay the bills ofthis caravan, the Widow Larken--who was shaped like a pillow with astring tied around it and wore a face like a huge, underdone appledumpling--was too good a business woman to overlook that opportunity. Bobby took one sweeping glance at that advancing circle of one hundredand forty eyes and turned to Widow Larken. 

"I will be responsible for the hotel bills of these people untilfurther notice, " said he. 

The Widow Larken, looking intently at Bobby's scarf-pin, relented nowhit in her uncompromising attitude. 

"And who might you be?" she demanded, with a calm brow and colddetermination. 

"I am Robert J. Burnit, " said Bobby. "I'll give you a written order ifyou like--or a check. "

The Widow Larken's uncompromising expression instantly melted, but shedid not smile--she grinned. Bobby knew precisely the cause of thatamused expression, but if he had needed an interpreter, he had one athis elbow in the person of Biff Bates, who looked up at him with areflection of the same grin. 

"They're all next to you, Bobby, " he observed. "The whole town knowsthat you're the real village goat. "

The Widow Larken did not answer Bobby directly. She called back to ablue-overall-clad porter at the end of the lobby:

"Open the dining-room doors, Michael. "

Signorina Caravaggio immediately said a few guttural words in Germanto Professor Frühlingsvogel, a few limpid words in Italian to SignorRicardo a few crisp words in French to Madame Villenauve, a nervousbut rather attractive little woman with piercing black eyes. Thesingers of other languages did not wait to be informed; they joinedthe general stampede toward the ravishing paradise of middaybreakfast, and as the last of them vacated the lobby, the principalsno whit behind the humble members of the chorus in crowding andjamming through that doorway, Bobby breathed a sigh of relief. Onlythe Signorina was left to him, and Bobby hesitated just a moment as itoccurred to him that, perhaps, a more personal entertainment wasexpected by this eminent songstress. Biff Bates, however, relieved himof his dilemma. 

"While you're gone down to see the boys at the Idlers' Club, " saidBiff, "I'm going to take Miss Carry--Miss--Miss--"

"Caravaggio, " interrupted the Signorina with a repetition of a laughwhich had convinced Bobby that, after all, she might be a singer, though her speaking voice gave no trace of it. 

"Carrie for mine, " insisted Biff with a confident grin. "I'm going totake Miss Carrie out to lunch some place where they don't serveprunes. I guess the Hotel Spender will do for us. "

Bobby surveyed Biff with an indulgent smile. 

"Thanks, " said he. "That will give me time to see what I can do. "

"You take my advice, Mr. Burnit, " earnestly interposed the Signorina. "Don't bother with your friends. Go and see the manager of the Orpheumand ask him about that open date. Ask him if he thinks it wouldn't bea good investment for you to back us. "

Biff, the conservative; Biff, whose vote was invariably for thenegative on any proposition involving an investment of Bobby's funds, unexpectedly added his weight for the affirmative. 

"It's a good stunt, Bobby. Go to it, " he counseled, and the Caravaggiosmiled down at him. 

Again Bobby laughed. 

"All right, Biff, " said he. "I'll hunt up the manager of the Orpheumright away. "

In his machine he conveyed Biff and the prima donna to the HotelSpender, and then drove to the Orpheum. 

CHAPTER XIX

WITH THE RELUCTANT CONSENT OF AGNES, BOBBY BECOMES A PATRON OF MUSIC

The manager of the Orpheum was a strange evolution. He was a man whohad spent a lifetime in the show business, running first a concerthall that "broke into the papers" every Sunday morning with an accountof from two to seven fights the night before, then an equallydisreputable "burlesque" house, the broad attractions of whichappealed to men and boys only. To this, as he made money, he added thecheapest and most blood-curdling melodrama theater in town, then a"regular" house of the second grade. In his career he had endured twodivorce cases of the most unattractive sort, and, among quiet andconventional citizens, was supposed to have horns and a barbed tailthat snapped sparks where it struck on the pavement. When he firstpurchased the Orpheum Theater, the most exclusive playhouse of thecity, he began to appear in its lobby every night in a dinner-coat ora dress-suit, silk topper and all, with an almost modest diamond studin his white shirt-front; and ladies, as they came in, asked in awedwhispers of their husbands: "Is _that_ Dan Spratt?" Some few who hadoccasion to meet him went away gasping: "Why, the man seems reallynice!" Others of "the profession, " about whom the public never knew, spoke his name with tears of gratitude. 

Mr. Spratt, immersed in troubles of his own, scarcely looked up asBobby entered, and only grunted in greeting. 

"Spratt, " began Bobby, who knew the man quite well through "sporting"events engineered by Biff Bates, "the Neapolitan Grand Opera Companyis stranded here, and--"

"Where are they?" interrupted Spratt eagerly, all his abstractiongone. 

"At the Hotel Larken, " began Bobby again. "I--"

"Have they got their props and scenery?"

"Everything, I understand, " said Bobby. "I came around to see you--"

"Who's running the show?" demanded Spratt. 

"Their manager decamped with the money--with what little there was, "explained Bobby, "and they came to me by accident. I understand youhave an open date next week. "

"It's not open now, " declared Spratt. "The date is filled with theNeapolitan Grand Opera Company. "

"There doesn't seem to be much use of my talking, then, " said Bobby, smiling. 

"Not much, " said Spratt. "They're a good company, but I've noticedfrom the reports that they've been badly managed. The Dago thatbrought them over didn't know the show business in this country andtried to run the circus himself; and, of course, they've gone on therocks. It's great luck that they landed here. I just heard a bit agothat they were in town. I suppose they're flat broke. "

"Why, yes, " said Bobby. "I just went up to the Hotel Larken and saidI'd be responsible for their hotel bill. "

"Oh, " said Spratt. "Then you're backing them for their week here. "

"Well, I'm not quite sure about that, " hesitated Bobby. 

"If you don't, I will, " offered Spratt. "There's a long line offull-dress Willies here that'll draw their week's wages in advance toattend grand opera in cabs. At two and a half for the first sixteenrows they'll pack the house for the week, and every diamond in thehock-shops will get an airing for the occasion. But you saw it first, Burnit, and I won't interfere. "

"Well, I don't know, " Bobby again hesitated. "I haven't fully--"

"Go ahead, " urged Spratt heartily. "It's your pick-up and I'll getmine. Hey, Spencer!"

A thin young man, with hair so light that he seemed to have no hair atall and no eyebrows, came in. 

"We've booked the Neapolitan Grand Opera Company for next week. Havethey got Caravaggio and Ricardo with them?" he asked, turning abruptlyto Bobby. 

Bobby, with a smile, nodded his head. 

"All right, Spence; get busy on some press stuff for the afternoonpapers. You can fake notices about them from what you know. Usetwo-inch streamers clear across the pages, then you can get some freshstuff and the repertoire to-night for the morning papers. Play it upstrong, Spence. Use plenty of space; and, say, tell Billy to get readyfor a three o'clock rehearsal. Now, Burnit, let's go up to the Larkenand make arrangements. "

"We might just as well wait an hour, " counseled Bobby. "The only one Ifound in the crowd who could speak English was Signorina Caravaggio. "

"I know her, " said Spratt. "Her other name's Nora McGinnis. Smartwoman, too, and straight as a string; and sing! Why, that big ox cansing a bird off a tree. "

"She's just gone over to lunch with Biff Bates at the Spender, "observed Bobby, "and we'd better wait for her. She seems to be theleading spirit. "

"Of course she is. Let's go right over to the Spender. "

Biff Bates did not seem overly pleased when his tête-à-tête luncheonwas interrupted by Bobby and Mr. Spratt, but the Signorina Nora veryquickly made it apparent that business was business. Arrangements werepromptly made to attach the carload of effects for back salaries duethe company, and to lease these to Bobby for the week for a nominalsum. Bobby was to pay the regular schedule of salaries for that weekand make what profit he could. A rehearsal of _Carmen_ was to becalled that afternoon at three, and a repertoire was arranged. 

Feeling very much exhilarated after all this, Bobby drove out in hisautomobile after lunch to see Agnes Elliston. He found that young ladyand Aunt Constance about to start for a drive, their carriage beingalready at the door, but without any ceremony he bundled them into hismachine instead. 

"Purely as my trustee, " he explained, "Agnes must inspect my newbusiness venture. "

Aunt Constance smiled. 

"The trusteeship of Agnes hasn't done you very much good so far, " sheobserved. "As a matter of fact, if she wanted to build up a reputationas an expert trustee, I don't think she could accomplish much byprinting in her circulars the details of her past stewardship. "

"I don't want her to work up a reputation as a trustee, " retortedBobby. "She suits me just as she is, and I'm inclined to thank thegovernor for having loaded her down with the job. "

"I'm becoming reconciled to it myself, " admitted Agnes, smiling up athim. "Really, I have great faith that one day you will learn how totake care of money--if the money holds out that long. What is the newventure, Bobby?"

He grinned quite cheerfully. 

"I am about to become an angel, " he said quite solemnly. 

Aunt Constance shook her head. 

"No, Bobby, " she said kindly; "there _are_ spots, you know, whereangels fear to tread. "

But Agnes took the declaration with no levity whatever. 

"You don't mean in a theatrical sense?" she inquired. 

"_In_ a theatrical sense, " he insisted. "I am about to back theNeapolitan Grand Opera Company. "

"Why, Bobby!" objected Agnes, aghast. "You surely don't mean it! Inever thought you would contemplate anything so preposterous as that. I thought it was to be only a benefit!"

"It's only a temporary arrangement, " he reassured her, laughing thathe had been taken so seriously. "I'm arranging so that they can earntheir way out of town; that's all. I am taking you down now to seetheir first rehearsal. "

"I don't care to go, " she declared, in a tone so piqued that Bobbyturned to her in mute astonishment. 

Aunt Constance laughed at his look of utter perplexity. 

"How little you understand, Bobby, " she said. "Don't you see thatAgnes is merely jealous?"

"Indeed not!" Agnes indignantly denied. "That is an idea more absurdthan the fact that Bobby should go into such an enterprise at all. However, since I lay myself open to such a suspicion I shall offer nofurther objection to going. "

Bobby looked at her curiously and then he carefully refrained fromchuckling, for Aunt Constance, though joking, had told the truth. Instant visions of dazzling sopranos, of mezzos and contraltos, ofangelic voices and of vast beauty and exquisite gowning, had flashedin appalling procession before her mental vision. The idea, in theface of the appalling actuality, was so rich that Bobby pursued it nofurther lest he spoil it, and talked about the weather and equallyinane topics the rest of the way. 

It was not until they had turned into the narrow alley at the side ofthe Orpheum, and from that to the still more narrow alley at its rear, that the zest of adventure began to make amends to Agnes for certaindisagreeable moments of the ride. At the stage door a particularlybewildered-looking man with a rolling eye and a weak jaw, renderedlimp and helpless by the polyglot aliens who had flocked upon him, strickenly let them in, to grope their way, amid what seemed aninextricable confusion, but was in reality the perfection oforderliness, upon the dim stage, beyond which stretched, in vastemptiness, the big, black auditorium. Upon the stage, chattering inshrill voices, were the forty members of the company, still in theirqueer clothing, while down in front, where shaded lights--seeming dulland discouraged amid all the surrounding darkness--streamed upon themusic, were the members of the orchestra, chattering just as volubly. The general note was quite different in pitch from the one Bobby hadheard that morning, for since he had seen them the members of theorganization had been fed, and life looked cheerful. 

Wandering at a loss among these people, and trying in the dim twilightto find some face that he knew, the ears of Bobby and his party weresuddenly assailed by an extremely harsh and penetrating voice whichshouted:

"Clear!"

This was accompanied by a sharp clap from a pair of very broad hands. The chattering suddenly took on a rapid crescendo, ascending a fullthird in the scale and then dying abruptly in a little high falsettoshriek; and Bobby, with a lady upon either arm, found his little trioimmediately alone in the center of the stage, a row of dim footlightscutting off effectually any view into the vast emptiness of theauditorium. 

"Hey, you; _clear_!" came the harsh voice again, accompanied byanother sharp clap of the hands, and a bundle of intense fightingenergy bounced out from the right tormentor wing, in the shape of agaunt, fiercely-mustached and entirely bald man of about forty-five, who appeared perpetually to be in the last stages of distraction. 

"Who do you weesh to see?" demanded the gaunt man, in a very decidedforeign accent. He had made a very evident attempt to be quite politeindeed, and forgiving of people who did not know enough to spring forthe wings at the sound of that magic word, "Clear!"

Any explanations that Bobby might have tried to make were happilyprevented by a voice from the yawning blackness--a quiet voice, avoice of authority, the voice of Mr. Spratt. 

"Come right down in front here, Burnit. Jimmy, show the gentleman howto get down. "

"Thees way, " snapped the gaunt man, with evident relief but noabatement whatever of his briskness, and he very hastily walked overto the right wings, where Jimmy, the house electrician, piloted thetrio with equal relief through the clustered mass of singers to thedoor behind the boxes. As they emerged into the auditorium the raucousvoice of the gaunt man was heard to shout: "All ready now. _Carmen_all ze way through. " An apparent repetition of which statement heimmediately made with equal raucousness in two or three languages. There was a call to Caravaggio in English, to Ricardo and the SignersFivizzano and Rivaroli in Italian, to Messrs. Philippi andSchaerbeeken in Spanish and Dutch, to Madam Villenauve in French, toMadam Kadanoff in Russian, and to Mademoiselle Török in Hungarian, toknow if they were ready; then, in rough but effective German, heinformed the Herr Professor down in the orchestra that all wasprepared, clapped his hands, cried "Overture, " and immediately plungedto the right upper entrance, marked by two chairs, where, with shrillobjurgations, he began instructing and drilling the Soldiers' Chorusout of certain remembered awkwardnesses, as Herr Frühlingsvogel'sbaton fell for the overture. 

Shorn of all the glamor that scenic environment, light effects andcostume could give them, it was a distinct shock to Agnes to gaze inwondering horror from each one of those amazing faces to the other, and when the cigarette girls trooped out, amazement gave way todownright consternation. Nevertheless, she cheered up considerably, and the apex of her cheerfulness was reached when the oversizedSignorina Caravaggio sang, very musically, however, the rôle of thepetite and piquant Carmen. It was then that, sitting by Bobby in thedarkness, Agnes observed with a sigh of content:

"Your trustee quite approves, Bobby. I don't mind being absolutelytruthful for once in my life. I _was_ a little jealous. But how couldI be? Really, their voices are fine. "

Mr. Spratt, too, was of that opinion, and he came back to Bobby to sayso most emphatically. 

"They'll do, " said he. "After the first night they'll have this towncrazy. If the seat sale don't go right for Monday we'll pack the housewith paper, and the rest of the week will go big. Just hear thatRicardo! The little bit of a sawed-off toad sings like a canary. Ifyou don't look at 'em, they're great. "

They _were_ superb. From the throats of that ill-favored chorus therecame divine harmony, smooth, evenly-balanced, exhilarating, almostflawless, and as the great musical poem of passion unfolded and themagnificent aria of Don José was finished in the second act, thelittle group of listeners down in front burst into involuntaryapplause, to which there was but one dissenting voice. This voice, suddenly evolving out of the darkness at Bobby's side, ejaculated withsupreme disgust:

"Well, what do you think of that! Why, that fat little fishworm of aDago is actually gone bug-house over Miss McGinnis, " a fact which hadbeen obvious to all of them the minute small Ricardo began to sing hiswonderful love song to large Caravaggio. 

The rest of them had found only amusement in the fact, but to BiffBates there was nothing funny about this. He sat in speechlessdisapproval throughout the balance of that much-interruptedperformance, wherein Professor Frühlingsvogel, now and then, stoppedhis music with a crash to shriek an excited direction that it was allwrong, that it was execrable, that it was a misdemeanor, a crime, amurder to sing it in that way! The passage must be all sung over; or, at other times, the gaunt stage director, whose name was MonsieurNoire, would rush with a hoarse howl down to Herr Professor, order himto stop the music, and, turning, berate some unfortunate performer whohad defied the conventions of grand opera by acting quite naturally. On the whole, however, it was a very creditable performance, andBobby's advisers gave the project their unqualified approval. 

"It is really a commendable thing, " Aunt Constance complacentlyannounced, "to encourage music of this order, and to furnish such adegree of cultivation for the masses. "

It was a worthy project indeed. As for the company itself there couldbe no question that it was a good one. No one expected acting in grandopera, no one expected that the performers would be physicallyadaptable to their parts. The voice! The voice was all. Even Agnesadmitted that it was a splendid thing to be a patron of the fine arts;but Bobby, in his profound new wisdom and his thorough conversion tostrictly commercial standards, said with vast iconoclasm:

"You are overlooking the main point. I am not so anxious to become apatron of the fine arts as I am to make money, " with which terribleheresy he left them at home, with a thorough understanding that he wasquite justified in his new venture; though next morning, when heconfided the fact to Johnson, that worthy, with a sigh, presented himwith an appropriate missive from among those in the gray envelopesleft in his care by the late John Burnit. It was inscribed:

 _To My Son Robert, Upon His Deciding to Back a Theatrical Venture_

 "Sooner or later, every man thinks it would be a fine thing to run a show, and the earlier in life it happens the sooner a man will have it out of his system. I tried it once myself, and I know. So good luck to you, my boy, and here's hoping that you don't get stung too badly. "

CHAPTER XX

STILL WITH THE RELUCTANT CONSENT OF AGNES, BOBBY INVESTS IN THE FINEARTS

That week's "season of grand opera" was an unqualified success, following closely the lines laid down by the experienced Mr. Spratt. Caravaggio and Ricardo and Philippi and Villenauve became householdwords, after the Monday night performance of _Carmen_, and for thebalance of the week shining carriages rolled up to the entrance of theOrpheum, disgorging load after load of high-hatted gentlemen andlong-plumed ladies. Before the end of the engagement it was definitelyknown that Bobby's investment would yield a profit, even deducting forthe days of idleness during which he had been compelled to support therehearsing company. The powers of darkness thereupon set vigorously towork upon him to carry the company on through the rest of its season. 

It was then that the storm broke. Against his going further with thecompany Agnes Elliston interposed an objection so decided and sounflattering that the _entente cordiale_ at the Elliston home wasstrained dangerously near to the breaking point, and in this she wasaided and abetted by Aunt Constance, who ridiculed him, and by UncleDan Elliston, who took him confidentially for a grave and hardheadedremonstrance. Chalmers, Johnson, and even Applerod wrestled with himin spirit; his friends at the Idlers' Club "guyed" him unmercifully, and even Biff Bates, though his support was earnestly sought by theSignorina Caravaggio, also counseled him roughly against it, andthrough it all Bobby was made to feel that he was a small boy who hadproposed to eat a peck of green apples and then go in swimming indog-days. Another note from his father, handed to him by the faithfuland worried Johnson, was the deciding straw:

 _To My Son Robert, About That Theatrical Venture_

 "When a man who knows nothing of the business backs a show, there's usually a woman at the bottom of it--and that kind of woman is mostly rank poison to a normal man, even if she is a good woman. No butterfly ever goes back into its chrysalis and becomes a grub again. Let birds of a feather flock together, Bobby. "

That unfortunate missive, for once shooting so wide the mark, pushedBobby over the edge. There was a streak of stubbornness in him which, well developed and turned into proper channels, was likely to be veryvaluable, but until he learned to use that stubbornness in the rightway it bade fair to plunge him into more difficulties than he couldextricate himself from with profit. Even Agnes, reading that note, indignantly agreed with Bobby that he was being unjustly misread. 

"It is absurd, " he explained to her. "This is the firstdividend-paying investment I have been able to make so far, and I'mgoing to keep it up just as long as I can make money out of it. I'd bevery foolish if I didn't. Besides, this is just a little in-betweenflyer, while I'm conservatively waiting for a good, legitimateopening. It can take, at most, but a very small part of my two hundredand fifty thousand. "

Agnes, though defending him against his father, was still reluctantabout the trip, but suddenly, with a curious smile, she withdrew allobjections and even urged him to go ahead. 

"Bobby, " said she, still with that curious smile and strangely shiningeyes, and putting both her hands upon his shoulders, "I see that youmust go ahead with this. I--I guess it will be good for you. Somehow, I think that this is to be your last folly, that you are reallylearning that the world is not all polo and honor-bets. So goahead--and I'll wait here. "

He could not know how much that hurt her. He only knew, after she hadtalked more lightly of his trip, that he had her full and freeconsent, and, highly elated with his first successful businessventure, he took up the contracts of the Neapolitan Grand OperaCompany where Signor Matteo, the decamped manager and producer, haddropped them. The members of the company having attached the sceneryand effects for back salaries, sold them to Bobby for ten thousanddollars, and he immediately found himself confronted by demands forsettlements, with the alternative of damage suits, from the two citiesin which the company had been booked for the two past weeks. 

Had Bobby not bound himself irrevocably to contracts which made himliable for the salaries of every member of this company for the nexttwenty weeks, he would have withdrawn instantly at the first hint ofthese suits; but, now that he was in for it, he promptly compromisedthem at a rate which made Spratt furious. 

"If I'd thought, " said Spratt angrily in the privacy of the Orpheumoffice, "that you were sucker enough to get roped in for the fullseason, I'd have tossed you out of the running for this week. Thisgame is a bigger gamble than the Stock Exchange. The smartestproducers in the business never know when they have a winner or aloser. More than that, while all actors are hard to handle, of all thecombinations on earth, a grand opera company is the worst. I'll bet acouple of cold bottles that before you're a week on the road you'llhave leaks in your dirigible over some crazy dramatic stunts that arenot in the book of any opera of the Neapolitan repertoire. "

The prediction was so true that it was proved that very night, whichwas Friday, during the repetition of _Carmen_. It seemed that BiffBates, by means of the supreme dominance of the Caravaggio, had beenmade free of the stage, a rare privilege, and one that enabled Biff tospend his time, under unusual and romantic circumstances, very much inthe company of the Celtic Signorina; all of which was very much to theannoyance, distress and fury of Signor Ricardo, especially on _Carmen_night. At all other times the great Ricardo thought very well indeedof the Signorina Nora, only being in any degree near to unfaithfulnesswhen, on _Aïda_ nights, he sang to vivacious little Madam Villenauve;but on _Carmen_ nights he was devotedly, passionately, madly in lovewith the divine Car-r-r-r-avaggio! Else how could he sing themagnificent second act aria? Life without her on those nights would bea hollow mockery, the glance of any possible rival in her direction adesecration. Why, he even had to restrain himself to keep from doingactual damage to Philippi, who, though on the shady side offorty-five, still sang a most dashing Escamillo; nor was his jealousyless poignant because Philippi and Caravaggio were sworn enemies. 

Thus it may be understood--by any one, at least, who has ever lovedecstatically and fervidly and even hectically, like the greatRicardo--how on Monday and Wednesday nights and the Thursday matinée, all of which were Caravaggio performances, he resented Biff'spresence. From dark corners he more darkly watched them chatting infrank enjoyment of each other's company; he made unexpected darts infront of their very eyes to greet them with the most alarming scowls;and because he insolently brushed the shoulder of the peaceablyinclined and self-sure Biff upon divers occasions, and Biff made nosign of resentment, he imagined that Biff trembled in his bootswhenever he noted the approach of the redoubtable Ricardo with hisinfinitesimal but ferocious mustachios. Great, then, was his wonder, to say nothing of his rage, when Biff, after all the scowls andshoulderings that he had received on Thursday, actually came aroundfor Friday night's _Carmen_ performance!

Even before the fierce Ricardo had gone into his dressing-room he wasalready taking upon himself the deadly character of Don José, and hisface surged red with fury when he saw Biff Bates, gaily laughing as ifno doom impended, come in at the stage door with the equally gay andcare-free Caravaggio. But after Signor Ricardo had donned the costumeand the desperateness of the brigadier Don José--it was then that thefury sank into his soul! And that fury boiled and seethed as, duringthe first and second acts, he found in the wings SignorinaCar-r-r-r-r-r-avaggio absorbed in pleasant but very significant chatwith his deadly enemy, the crude, unmusical, inartistic, soullessBiffo de Bates-s-s-s! But, ah! There was another act to come, thethird act, at the beginning of which the property man handed him thelong, sharp, wicked-looking, bloodthirsty knife with which he was tofight Escamillo, and with which in the fourth act he was to killCarmen. The mere possession of that knife wrought the great tenor'ssoul to gory tragedy; so much so that immediately after the third actcurtain calls he rushed directly to the spot where he knew thecontemptible Signor Biffo de Bates-s-s-s to be standing, and withshrill Latin imprecations flourished that keen, glistening bladebefore the eyes of the very much astounded Biff. 

For a moment, thoroughly incredulous, Biff refused to believe it, until a second demonstration compelled him to acknowledge that thegreat Ricardo actually meant threatening things toward himself. Whenthis conviction forced its way upon him, Biff calmly reached out, and, with a grip very much like a bear-trap, seized Signor Ricardo by theforearm of the hand which held the knife. With his unengaged hand Biffthen smacked the Signor Ricardo right severely on the wrist. 

"You don't mean it, you know, Sig-nor Garlic, " he calmly observed. "IfI thought you did I'd smack you on both wrists. Why, you little redballoon, I ain't afraid of any mutt on earth that carries a knife likethat, as long as I got my back to the wall. "

Still holding the putty-like Signor by the forearm, he delicatelyabstracted from his clasp the huge knife, and, folding it up gravely, handed it back to him; then deliberately he turned his back on theSignor and pushed his way through the delightedly horror-strickenemotionalists who had gathered at the fray, and strolled over to whereSignorina Caravaggio had stood an interested and mirth-shakenobserver. 

"You mustn't think all Italians are like that, Biff, " she said, herfirst impulse, as always, to see justice done; "but singers are adifferent breed. I don't think he's bluffing, altogether. If he got areal good chance some place in the dark, and was sure that he wouldn'tbe caught, he might use a stiletto on you. "

"If he ever does I'll slap his forehead, " said Biff. "But say, he usesthat cleaver again in the show?"

The Signorina Nora shrugged her shoulders. 

"He's supposed to stab me with it in this next act. "

"He is!" exclaimed Biff. "Well, just so he don't make any mistake I'mgoing over and paste him one. "

It was not necessary, for Signor Ricardo, after studying the matterover and seeing no other way out of it, proceeded to have a fit. Noone, not even the illustrious Signor, could tell just how much of thatfit was deliberate and artificial, and just how much was due to anoverwrought sensitive organization, but certain it was that the SignorRicardo was quite unable to go on with the performance, and MonsieurNoire himself, as agitated as a moment before the great Ricardo hadbeen, frantically rushed up to Biff and grabbed him roughly by theshoulders. 

"Too long, " shrieked he, "we have let you be annoying the artists, byreason of the Caravaggio. But now you shall do the skidooing. "

With a laugh Biff looked back over his shoulder at the Caravaggio, andpermitted Monsieur Noire to eject him bodily from the stage door uponthe alley. 

The next morning, owing to the prompt action and foresightedness ofSpratt, all the papers contained the very pretty story that the greatRicardo had succumbed to his own intensity of emotions after the thirdact of _Carmen_, and had been unable to go on, giving way to thescarcely less great Signor Dulceo. That same morning Bobby wasconfronted by the first of a long series of similar dilemmas. TheSignorina Caravaggio must leave the company or Signor Ricardo would doso. No stage was big enough to hold the two; moreover, Ricardo meantto have the heart's blood of Signor Biffo de Bates-s-s-s!

With a sigh, Bobby, out of his ignorance and independence, took theonly possible course to preserve peace, and emphatically told SignorRicardo to pack up and go as quickly as possible, which he went awayvowing to do. Naturally the great tenor thought better of it afterthat, and though he had already been dropped from the cast of _IlTrovatore_ on Saturday afternoon, he reported just the same. And hewent on with the company. 

It was not until they went upon the road, however, that Bobby fullyrealized what a lot of irresponsible, fretful, peevish children he hadupon his hands. With the exception of serene Nora McGinnis, every oneof the principals was at daggers drawn with all the others, sulkingover the least advantage obtained by any one else, and acceptingadvantage of their own as only a partial payment of their supremerank. The one most at war with her own world was Madam Villenauve, whose especial _bête noire_ was the MeeGeenees, whom, by nopossibility, could she ever under any circumstance be induced to callCaravaggio. 

On the second day of their next engagement, as Bobby strode throughthe corridor of the hotel, shortly after luncheon, he was stopped byMadam Villenauve, who had been waiting for him in the door of herroom. She was herself apparently just dressing to go out, for hercoiffure was made and she had on a short underskirt, a kimono-likedressing-jacket and her street shoes. 

"I wish to speak wiz you on some beezness, Meester Burnit, " she toldhim abruptly, and with an imperatively beckoning hand stepped backwith a bow for him to enter. 

With just a moment of surprised hesitation he stepped into the room, whereupon the Villenauve promptly closed the door. A week before Bobbywould have been a trifle astonished by this proceeding, but in thatweek he had seen so many examples of unconscious unconventionalitiesin and about the dressing-rooms and at the hotel, that he hadreadjusted his point of view to meet the peculiar way of life of thesepeople, and, as usual with readjustments, had readjusted himself toofar. He found the room in a litter, with garments of all sorts castabout in reckless disorder. 

"I have been seeing you last night, " began Madam Villenauve, shakingher finger at him archly as she swept some skirts off a chair for himto sit down, and then took her place before her dressing-table, whereshe added the last deft touch to her coiffure. "I have been seeing yousmiling at ze reedeec'lous Carmen. Oh, la, la! Carmen!" she shrilled. "It is I, monsieur, I zat am ze Carmen. It was zis Matteo, thescoundrel who run away wiz our money, zat allow le Ricardo to say whomhe like to sing to for Carmen. Ricardo ees in loaf wiz la MeeGeenees. Le Ricardo is a fool, so zis Ricardo sing Carmen ever tam to ze great, grosse monstair MeeGeenees; an' ever'body zey laugh. Ze chorus laugh, ze principals laugh, le Monsieur Noire he laugh, even zatFrühlingsvogel zat have no humair, he laugh, an' ze audience laugh, an' las' night I am seeing you laugh. Ees eet not so? _Mais!_ It isabsurd! It is reedeec'lous. Le Ricardo make fool over la MeeGeenees. _I_ sing ze Carmen! I _am_ ze Carmen! You hear me sing Aïda? Eet eeszat way. I sing Carmen. Now I s'all sing Carmen again! Ees eet not?"

As Madam Villenauve talked, punctuating her remarks with quick, impatient little gestures, she jerked off her dressing-jacket andthrew it on the floor, and Bobby saved himself from panic by remindinghimself that her frank anatomical display was, in the peculiar ethicsof these people, no more to be noticed than if she were in an eveninggown, which was very reasonable, after all, once you understood thecode. Still voicing her indignation at having been displaced in therole of Carmen by the utterly impossible and preposterous Caravaggio, she caught up her waist and was about to slip it on, while Bobby, withan amused smile, reflected that presently he would no doubt benonchalantly requested to hook it in the back, when some one tried thedoor-knob. A knock followed and Madam Villenauve went to the door. 

"Who ees it?" she asked with her hand on the knob. 

"It is I; Monsieur Noire, " was the reply. 

"Oh, la, come in, zen, " she invited, and threw open the door. 

Monsieur Noire entered, but, finding Bobby in the chair by thedresser, stopped uncertainly in the doorway. 

"Oh, come on een, " she gaily invited; "we are all ze good friends;_oui_?"

It appeared that Monsieur Noire came in all politeness, yet with rigidintention, to inquire about a missing piece of music from the score of_Les Huguenots_, and Madam Villenauve, in all politeness and yet withmuch indignation, assured him that she did not have it; whereuponMonsieur Noire, with all politeness but cold insistence, demanded thatshe look for it; whereupon Madam Villenauve, though once moreprotesting that she had it not, in all politeness and yet withconsiderable asperity, declared that she would not search for it;whereupon Monsieur Noire, observing the piece of music in questionpeeping out from beneath a conglomerate pile of newspapers, clothingand toilet articles, laid hands upon it and departed. MadamVillenauve, entirely unruffled now that it was all over, but stillchattering away with great volubility about the crime of Carmen, finished her dressing and bade Bobby hook the back of her waist, andby sheer calmness and certainty of intention forced him to accompanyher over to rehearsal. 

Whatever annoyance he might have felt over this was lost in hisamusement when he reached the theater in finding Biff Bates upon thestage waiting for him; and Biff, while waiting, was quite excusablywhiling the time away with the adorable Miss McGinnis. 

"You see, Young Fitz lives here, " Biff brazenly explained, "and I runup to see him about that exhibition night I'm going to have at thegym. I'm going to have him go on with Kid Jeffreys. "

"Biff, " said Bobby warmly, "I want to congratulate you on yourbusiness enterprise. Have you seen Young Fitz yet?"

"Well, no, " confessed Biff. "I just got here about an hour ago. Ididn't know your hotel, but it was a cinch from the bills to tellwhere the show was, so I came right around to the theater to see youfirst. "

"Exactly, " admitted Bobby. "Do you _expect_ to see Young Fitz?"

"Well, maybe, if I get time, " said Biff with a sheepish grin. "Justnow I'm going out for a drive with Miss McGinnis. "

"Caravaggio, " corrected that young lady with a laugh. 

"McGinnis for mine, " declared Biff. "By the way, Bobby, I saw acertain party before I left town and she gave me this letter for you. Certain party is as cheerful as a chunk of lead about your trip, Bobby, but she makes the swellest bluff I ever saw that she's tickledto death with it. "

With this vengeful shot in retaliation for his excuse about Young Fitzhaving been doubted he sailed away with the Caravaggio, who, thoughrequired to report at every rehearsal, was not in the cast for thatnight and was readily excused from further attendance. Since Bobby hadreceived a very pleasant letter from Agnes when he got up that morninghe opened this missive with a touch of curiosity added to the thrillwith which he always took in his hands any missive, no matter howtrivial, from her. It was but a brief note calling attention to theenclosed newspaper clipping, and wishing him success in his newventure. The clipping was a flamboyant article describing the decisionof the city council to install a magnificent new ten-million-dollarwaterworks system, and the personally interesting item in it, ringedaround with a pencil mark, was that Silas Trimmer had been appointedby Mayor Garland as president of the waterworks commission. 

It was not news that could alter his fortunes in any way so far as hecould see, but it did remind him, with a strange whipping of hisconscience, that, after all, his place was back home, and that hisproper employment should be the looking after his home interests. Forthe first time he began to have a dim realization that a man's placewas among his enemies, where he could watch them. 

CHAPTER XXI

WHEREIN THE FINE ARTS PRESENT BOBBY WITH A MOST EMBARRASSING DILEMMA

It had become by no means strange to Bobby, even before the company"took the road, " that some one of the principals should attachthemselves to him in all his possible goings and comings, for each andevery one of them had some complaint to make about all the others. They wanted readjustments of cast, better parts to sing, betterdressing-rooms, better hotel quarters, better everything than theothers had, and with the unhappy and excited Monsieur Noire he sharedthis unending strife. At first he saw it all in a humorous light, but, by and by, he came to a period of ennui and tried to rebel. Thisperiod gave him more trouble than the other, so within a short time helapsed into an apathetic complaint-receptacle and dreamed no more ofwalking or riding to and from the hotel without one of these impulsivechildren of art, who seethed perpetually in self-prodded artificialemotions, attached to him. If it seemed strange at times that MadamVillenauve was more frequently with him than any of the others he onlyreflected that the vivacious little Frenchwoman was much morepersistent; nor did he note that, presently, the others came rather togive way before her and to let her monopolize him more and more. 

It was during the third week that Professor Frühlingsvogel was toendure another birthday, and Bobby, full of generous impulses asalways, announced at rehearsal that in honor of the Professor'sunwelcome milestone he intended to give a little supper that night atthe hotel. Madam Villenauve, standing beside him, suddenly threw herarms around his neck and kissed him smack upon the lips, with a quiteenthusiastic declaration, in very charmingly warped English, that hewas "a dear old sing. " Bobby, reverting quickly in mind to the fact ofthe extreme unconventionally of these people, took the occurrencequite as a matter of course, though it embarrassed him somewhat. Herather counted himself a prig that he could not sooner get over thishabit of embarrassment, and every time Madam Villenauve insisted oncalling him into her dressing-room when she was in much more ofdishabille than he would have thought permissible in ordinary people, he felt that same painful lack of sophistication. 

At the supper that night, Madam Villenauve, with a great show ofplayful indignation, routed Madam Kadanoff from her accidental seatnext to Bobby, and, in giving up the seat, which she did quitegracefully enough, Madam Kadanoff dropped some remark in choiceRussian, which, of course, Bobby did not understand, but which MadamVillenauve did, for she laughed a little shrilly and, with an engagingupward smile at Bobby, observed:

"I theenk I shall say it zat zees so chairming Monsieur Burnit is soonto marry wiz me; ees eet not, monsieur?"

Whereupon Bobby, with his customary courtesy, replied:

"No gentleman would care to deny such a charming and attractivepossibility, Madam Villenauve. "

But the gracious speech was of the lips alone, and spoken with awarning glare against "kidding" at the grinning Biff Bates, who hadfound business of urgent importance for that night in the city wherethe company was booked. Bobby, in fact, had begun to tire very much ofthe whole business. To begin with, he found the organization a muchmore expensive one to keep up than he had imagined. The route, badlylaid out, was one of tremendous long jumps; of his singers, like otherrare and expensive creatures, extravagant care must be taken, and notevery place that they stopped was so eager for grand opera as it mighthave been. At the end of three weeks he was able to compute that hehad lost about a thousand dollars a week, and in the fourth week theystruck an engagement so fruitless that even the cheerful Caravaggiobecame dismal. 

"It's a sure enough frost, " she confided to Bobby; "but cheer up, forthe worst is yet to come. Your route sheet for the next two monthslooks like a morgue to me, and unless you interpolate a few coon songsin _Tannhäuser_ and some song and dance specialties between the actsof _Les Huguenots_ you're gone. You know I used to sing this route inmusical comedy, and, on the level, I've got a fine part waiting for meright now in _The Giddy Queen_. I like this highbrow music all right, but the people that come to hear it make me so sad. You're a goodsport, though, and as long as you need me I'll stick. "

"Thanks, " said Bobby sincerely. "It's a pleasure to speak to a realhuman being once in a while, even if you don't offer anyencouragement. However, we'll not be buried till we're dead, notwithstanding that we now enter upon the graveyard route. "

Doleful experience, however, confirmed the Caravaggio's gloomyprophecy. They embarked now upon a season of one and two and threenight stands that gave Bobby more of the real discomforts of life thanhe had ever before dreamed possible. To close a performance at eleven, to pack and hurry for a twelve-thirty train, to ride until fiveo'clock in the morning--a distance too short for sleep and too long tostay awake--to tumble into a hotel at six and sleep until noon, thiswas one program; to close a performance at eleven, to wait up for afour-o'clock train, to ride until eight and get into a hotel at nine, with a vitally necessary rehearsal between that and the eveningperformance, was another program, either one of which wore on healthand temper and purse alike. The losses now exceeded two thousanddollars a week. Moreover, the frequent visits of Biff Bates and hisconstant baiting of Signor Ricardo had driven that great tenor to sucha point of distraction that one night, being near New York, he drewhis pay and departed without notice. There was no use, in spite ofMonsieur Noire's frantic insistence, in trying to make the publicbelieve that the lank Dulceo was the fat Ricardo; moreover, immediately upon his arrival in New York, Signor Ricardo let it beknown that he had left the Neapolitan Company, so the prestige of thecompany fell off at once, for the "country" press pays sharp attentionto these things. 

A letter from Johnson at just this time also had its influence uponBobby, who now was in an humble, not an antagonistic mood, and quiteripe for advice. Mr. Johnson had just conferred with Mr. Bates uponhis return from a visit to the Neapolitan Company, and Mr. Bates haddetailed to Mr. Johnson much that he had seen with his own eyes, andmuch that the Caravaggio had told him. Mr. Johnson, thereupon, beggingpardon for the presumption, deemed this a fitting time, from what hehad heard, to forward Bobby the inclosed letter, which, in its grayenvelope, had been left behind by Bobby's father:

 _To My Son in the Midst of a Losing Fight_

 "Determination is a magnificent quality, but bullheadedness is not. The most foolish kind of pride on earth is that which makes a man refuse to acknowledge himself beaten when he is beaten. It takes a pretty brave man, and one with good stuff in him, to let all his friends know that he's been licked. Figure this out. "

Bobby wrestled with that letter all night. In the morning he receivedone from Agnes which served to increase and intensify the feeling ofhomesickness that had been overwhelming him. She, too, had seen BiffBates. She had asked him out to the house expressly to talk with him, but she had written a pleasant, cheerful letter wherein she hoped thatthe end of the season would repay the losses she understood that hewas enduring; but she admitted that she was very lonesome without him. She gave him quite a budget of gay gossip concerning all the youngpeople of his set, and after he had read that letter he was quiteprepared to swallow his grit and make the announcement that for a weekhad been almost upon his tongue. 

Through Monsieur Noire, at rehearsal that afternoon, he declared hisintention of closing the season, and offered them each two weeks'advance pay and their fare to New York. It was Signorina Caravaggiowho broke the hush that followed this announcement. 

"You're a good sort, Bobby Burnit, " she said, with kindly intent tolead the others, "and I'll take your offer and thank you. "

It appeared that the majority of them had dreaded some such dénouementas this; some had been prepared for even less advantageous terms, andseveral, upon direct inquiry, announced their willingness to acceptthis proposal. A few declared their intention to hold him for the fullcontract. These were the ones who had made sure of his entiresolvency, and these afterward swayed the balance of the company to astand which won a better compromise. When Monsieur Noire, with acurious smile, asked Madam Villenauve, however, she laughed verypleasantly. 

"Oh, non, " said she; "it does not apply, zis offair, to me. I do notneed it, for Monsieur Burnit ees to marry wiz me zis Christmastam. "

"I am afraid, Madam Villenauve, that we will have to quit joking aboutthat, " said Bobby coldly. 

"Joking!" screamed the shrill voice of madam. "Eet ees not any joke. You can not fool wiz me, Monsieur Burnit. You mean to tell all zesepeople zat you are not to marry wiz me?"

"I certainly have no intention of the kind, " said Bobby impatiently, "nor have I ever expressed such an intention. "

"We s'all see about zat, " declared the madam with righteousindignation. "We s'all see how you can amuse yourself. You refuse tokeep your word zat you marry me? All right zen, you do! I bring suitto-day for brich promise, and I have here one, two, three, a dozenweetness. I make what you call subpoena on zem all. We s'all see. "

"Monsieur Noire, " said Bobby, more sick and sore than panic-stricken, "you will please settle matters with all these people and come to meat the hotel for whatever checks you need, " and, hurt beyond measureat this one more instance that there were, really, rapacious schemersin the world, who sought loathsome advantage at the expense of decentfolk, Bobby crept away, to hide himself and try to understand. 

They were here for the latter half of the week, and, since businessseemed to be fairly good, Bobby had decided to fill this engagement, canceling all others. In the morning it seemed that Madam Villenauvehad been in earnest in her absurd intentions, for, in his room, ateleven o'clock, he was served with papers in the breach-of-promisesuit of Villenauve _versus_ Burnit, and the amount of damages claimedwas the tremendous sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, anamount, of course, only commensurate with Madam Villenauve's standingin the profession and her earning capacity as an artist, her pride andshattered feelings and the dashing to earth of her love's young dreambeing of corresponding value. Moreover, he learned that an injunctionhad been issued completely tying up his bank account. That was theparting blow. Settling up with the performers upon a blood-lettingbasis, he most ignominiously fled. Before he went away, however, Signorina Nora McGinnis Caravaggio called him to one side and confideda most delicate message to him. 

"Your friend, Mr. Bates, " she began with an embarrassed hesitationquite unusual in the direct Irish girl; "he's a nice boy, from theground up, and give him an easy word from me. But, Mr. Burnit, givehim a hint not to do any more traveling on my account; for I've got ahusband back in New York that ain't worth the rat poison to put himout of his misery, but I'm not getting any divorces. One mistake isenough. But don't be too hard on me when you tell Biff. Honest, up tojust the last, I thought he'd come only to see you; but I enjoyed hisvisits. " And in the eyes of the Caravaggio there stood real tears. 

A newsboy met Bobby on the train with the morning papers from home, and in them he read delightfully flavored and spiced accounts of thegreat Villenauve breach-of-promise case, embellished with many detailsthat were entirely new to him. He had not counted on this phase of thematter, and it struck him almost as with an ague. The notoriety, theaskance looks he would receive from his more conservativeacquaintances, the "ragging" he would get at his clubs, all these hecould stand. But Agnes! How could he ever face her? How would shereceive him? From the train he took a cab directly home and buriedhimself there to think it all over. He spent a morning of intensedejection and an afternoon of the utmost misery. In the evening, notcaring to dine in solitary gloom at home nor to appear yet among hisfellows, he went out to an obscure restaurant in the neighborhood andate his dinner, then came back again to his lonely room, seeingnothing ahead of him but an evening of melancholy alone. His butler, however, met him in the hall on his return. 

"Miss Elliston called up on the 'phone while you were out, sir. "

"Did you tell her I was at home?" asked Bobby with quick apprehension. 

"Yes, sir; you hadn't told me not to do so, sir; and she left wordthat you were to come straight out to the house as soon as you camein. "

"Very well, " said Bobby, and went into the library. 

He sat down before the telephone and rested his hand upon the receiverfor perhaps as much as five long minutes of hesitation, then abruptlyhe turned away from that unsatisfactory means of communication and hadhis car ordered; then hurriedly changed to the evening clothes he hadnot intended to don that night. 

In most uncertain anticipation, but quite sure of the most vigorous"blowing up" of his career, he whirled out to the home of theEllistons and ascended the steps. The ring at the bell brought theever imperturbable Wilkins, who nodded gravely upon seeing that it wasBobby and, relieving him of his coat and hat, told him:

"Right up to the Turkish room, sir. "

There seemed a strange quietness about the house, and he felt more andmore as if he might be approaching a sentence as he climbed the silentstairs. At the door of the Turkish room, however, Agnes met him withoutstretched hands and a smile of welcome which bore traces of quitetoo much amusement for his entire comfort. When she had drawn himwithin the big alcove she laughed aloud, a light laugh in which therewas no possible trace of resentment, and it lifted from his mind theload that had been oppressing it all day long. 

"I'm afraid you haven't heard, " he began awkwardly. 

"Heard!" she repeated, and laughed again. "Why, Bobby, I read all themorning papers and all the evening papers, and I presume there will beexcellent reading in every one of them for days and days to come. "

"And you're not angry?" he said, astounded. 

"Angry!" she laughed. "Why, you poor Bobby. I remember this MadamVillenauve perfectly, besides seeing her ten-years-ago pictures in thepapers, and you don't suppose for a minute that I could be jealous ofher, do you? Moreover, I can prove by Aunt Constance and Uncle Danthat I predicted just this very thing when you first insisted upongoing on the road. "

He looked around, dreading the keen satire of Uncle Dan and theincisive ridicule of Aunt Constance, but she relieved his mind of thatfear. 

"We were all invited out to dinner to-night, but I refused to go, forreally I wanted to soften the blow for you. There is nobody in thehouse but myself and the servants. Now, do behave, Bobby! Wait aminute, sir! I've something else to crush you with. Have you seen theevening papers?"

No; the morning papers had been enough for him. 

"Well, I'll tell you what they are doing. The ConsolidatedIlluminating and Power Company has secured an order from the citycouncil compelling the Brightlight Electric Company to remove theirpoles from Market Street. "

Bobby caught his breath sharply. Stone and Sharpe and Garland, thepolitical manipulators of the city, and its owners, lock, stock andbarrel were responsible for this. They had taken advantage of hisabsence. 

"What a fool I have been, " he bitterly confessed, "to have taken upwith this entirely irregular and idiotic enterprise, a venture ofwhich I knew nothing whatever, and let go the serious fight I hadintended to make on Stone and his crowd. "

"Never mind, Bobby, " said Agnes. "I have a suspicion that you have cuta wisdom-tooth. I rather imagined that you needed this one last follyas a sort of relapse before complete convalescence, to settle you downand bring you back to me for a more serious effort. I see that themost of your money is tied up in this embarrassing suit, and when Iread that you were on your way home I went to Mr. Chalmers and got himto arrange for the release of some bonds. Following the provisions ofyour father's will your next two hundred and fifty thousand is waitingfor you. Moreover, Bobby, this time I want you to listen to yourtrustee. I have found a new business for you, one about which you knownothing whatever, but one that you must learn; I want to put a weaponinto your hands with which to fight for everything you have lost. "

He looked at her in wonder. 

"I always told you I needed you, " he declared. "When _are_ you goingto marry me?"

"When you have won your fight, Bobby, or when you have proved entirelyhopeless, " she replied with a smile in which there was a certainamount of wistfulness. 

"You're a good sort, Agnes, " he said a little huskily, and he ponderedfor some little time in awe over the existence of women like this. "Iguess the governor was mighty right in making you my trustee, afterall. But what is this business?"

"The _Evening Bulletin_ is for sale, I have learned. Just now it is anindependent paper, but it seems to me you could not have a betterweapon, with your following, for fighting your political and businessenemies. "

"I'll think that over very seriously, " he said with much soberness. "Ihave refused everybody's advice so far, and have taken only my own. Ihave begun to believe that I am not the wisest person in the world;also I have come to believe that there are more ways to lose moneythan there are to make money; also I've found out that men are not theonly gold-brick salesmen. Agnes, I'm what Biff Bates calls a 'Hick'!"

"Look what your father has to say about this last escapade of yours, "she said, smiling, and from her desk brought him one of the familiargray envelopes. This was the letter:

 _To My Daughter Agnes, Upon Bobby's Entanglement with a Blackmailing Woman_

 "No man can guard against being roped in by a scheming woman the first time; but if it happens twice he deserves it, and he should be turned out to stay an idiot, for the signs are so plain. A man swindler takes a man's money and makes a fool of him; but a woman swindler takes a man's money and leaves a smirch on him. Only a man's nearest and dearest can help him live down such a smirch; so, Agnes, if my son has been this particular variety of everlasting blank fool, don't turn against him. He needs you. Moreover, you'll find him improved by it. He'll be so much more humble. "

"I didn't really need that letter, " Agnes shyly confessed; "but maybeit helped some. "

CHAPTER XXII

AGNES FINDS BOBBY A SLING AND BOBBY PUTS A STONE IN IT

The wonderful change in a girl who, through her love, has become allwoman, that was the marvel to Bobby; the breadth of her knowledge, thedepth of her sympathy, the boundlessness of her compassionateforgiveness, her quality of motherliness; and this last was perhapsthe greatest marvel of all. Yet even his marveling did not encompassall the wonder. In his last exploit, more full of folly than anythinginto which he had yet blundered, and the one which, of all others, might most have turned her from him, Agnes had had the harder part; tosit at home and wait, to dread she knew not what. The certainty whichfinally evolved had less of distress in it than not to know while dayby day passed by. One thing had made it easier: never for one momenthad she lost faith in Bobby, in any way. She was certain, however, that financially his trip would be a losing one, and from the time heleft she kept her mind almost constantly upon the thought of hisfuture. She had become almost desperately anxious for him to fulfillthe hopes of his father, and day by day she studied the commercialfield as she had never thought it possible that she could do. Therewas no line of industry upon which she did not ponder, and there wasscarcely any morning that she did not at the breakfast table ask DanElliston the ins and outs of some business. If he was not able to tellher all she wanted to know, she usually commissioned him to find out. He took these requests in good part, and if she accomplished nothingelse by all her inquiries she acquired such a commercial education asfalls to the lot of but few home-kept young women. 

One morning her uncle came down a trifle late for breakfast and was ina hurry. 

"The Elliston School of Commercial Instruction will have a recess forthis session, " he observed as he popped into his chair. "I have animportant engagement at the factory this morning and have about sevenminutes for breakfast. During that seven minutes I prefer to eatrather than to talk. However, I do not object to listening. This beingmy last word except to request you to gather things closely about myplate, you may now start. "

"Very well, " said she, dimpling as she usually did at any evidence ofbriskness on the part of her Uncle Dan, for from long experience sheknew the harmlessness of his bark. "Nick Allstyne happened to remarkto me last night that the _Bulletin_ is for sale. What do you think ofthe newspaper business for Bobby?"

"The time necessary to answer that question takes my orange from me, "objected Uncle Dan as he hastily sipped another bite of the fruit andpushed it away. "The newspaper business for Bobby!" He drew themuffins toward him and took one upon his plate, then he stopped andpondered a moment. "Do you know, " said he, "that's about the bestsuggestion you've made. I believe he could make a hummer out of anewspaper. I've noticed this about the boy's failures; they have allof them been due to lack of experience; none of them has been due toany absence of backbone. Nobody has ever bluffed him. "

Agnes softly clapped her hands. 

"Exactly!" she cried. "Well, Uncle Dan, this is the last word _I'm_going to say. For the balance of your seven minutes I'm going to helpstuff you with enough food to keep you until luncheon time; butsometime to-day, if you find time, I want you to go over and see theproprietor of the _Bulletin_ and find out how much he wants for hisproperty, and investigate it as a business proposition just the sameas if you were going into it yourself. "

Uncle Dan, dipping voraciously into his soft boiled eggs, grinned andsaid: "Huh!" Then he looked at his watch. When he came home to dinner, however, he hunted up Agnes at once. 

"Your _Bulletin_ proposition looks pretty good, " he told her. "I sawGreenleaf. He's a physical wreck and has been for two years. He has toget away or die. Moreover, his physical condition has reacted upon hispaper. His circulation has run down, but he has a magnificent plantand a good office organization. He wants two hundred thousand dollarsfor his plant, good will and franchises. I'm going to investigate thisa little further. Do you suppose Bobby will have two hundred thousandleft when he gets through with grand opera?"

"I hope so, " replied Agnes; "but if he hasn't I'll have him waste thebalance of this two hundred and fifty thousand so that he can draw thenext one. "

Uncle Dan laughed in huge enjoyment of this solution. 

"You surely were cut out for high finance, " he told her. 

She smiled, and was silent a while, hesitating. 

"You seem to think pretty well of the business as a businessproposition, " she ventured anxiously, by and by; "but you haven't toldme what you think of it as applicable to Bobby. "

"If he'll take you in the office with him, he'll do all right, " heanswered her banteringly; but when he went up-stairs and found hiswife he said: "Constance, if that girl don't pull Bobby Burnit throughhis puppyhood in good shape there is something wrong with the schemeof creation. There is something about you women of the Elliston familythat every once in a while makes me pause and reverence the Almighty, "whereupon Aunt Constance flushed prettily, as became her. 

With the same earnestness of purpose Agnes handled the question ofBobby's breach-of-promise suit in so far as it affected his socialreception. The Ellistons went to the theater and sat in a box toexhibit him on the second night after his return, and Agnes tookcareful count of all the people she knew who attended the theater thatnight. The next day she went to see all of them, among others Mrs. Horace Wickersham, whose social word was social law. 

"My dear, " said the redoubtable Mrs. Wickersham, "it does Bobby Burnitgreat credit that he did not marry the creature. Of course I shallinvite him to our affair next Friday night. "

After that there could be no further question of Bobby's standing, though without the firm support of Agnes he might possibly have beenostracised, for a time at least. 

It was with much less certainty that she spread before Bobby the factsand figures which Uncle Dan had secured about the condition andprospects of the _Bulletin_. She did not urge the project upon him. Instead, though in considerable anxiety, she left the proposition opento his own judgment. He pondered the question more soberly andseriously than he had yet considered anything. There were but twochances left to redeem himself now, and he felt much like a gamblerwho has been reduced to his last desperate stake. He grew almosthaggard over the proposition, and he spent two solid weeks ininvestigation. He went to Washington to see Jack Starlett, who knewthree or four newspaper proprietors in Philadelphia and elsewhere. Heobtained introductions to these people and consulted with them, inspected their plants and listened to all they would say; as theyliked him, they said much. Ripened considerably by what he had foundout he came back home and bought the _Bulletin_. Moreover, he had verydefinitely made up his mind precisely what to do with it. 

On the first morning that he walked into the office of that paper asits sole owner and proprietor, he called the managing editor to himand asked:

"What, heretofore, has been the politics of this paper?"

"Pale yellow jelly, " snapped Ben Jolter wrathfully. 

"Supposed to be anti-Stone, hasn't it been?" Bobby smilingly inquired. 

"But always perfectly ladylike in what it said about him. "

"And what are the politics of the employees?"

At this Mr. Jolter snorted. 

"They are good newspaper men, Mr. Burnit, " he stated in quick defense;"and a good newspaper man has no politics. "

Bobby eyed Mr. Jolter with contemplative favor. He was a stout, stockily-built man, with a square head and sparse gray hair that wouldpersist in tangling and curling at the ends; and he perpetually kepthis sleeves rolled up over his big arms. 

"I don't know anything about this business, " confessed Bobby, "but Ihope to. First of all, I'd like to find out why the _Bulletin_ has nocirculation. "

"The lack of a spinal column, " asserted Jolter. "It has had no policy, stood pat on no proposition, and made no aggressive fight onanything. "

"If I understand what you mean by the word, " said Bobby slowly, "the_Bulletin_ is going to have a policy. "

It was now Mr. Jolter's turn to gaze contemplatively at Bobby. 

"If you were ten years older I would feel more hopeful about it, " hedecided bluntly. 

The young man flushed uncomfortably. He was keenly aware that he hadmade an ass of himself in business four successive times, and thatJolter knew it. By way of facing the music, however, he showed to hismanaging editor a letter, left behind with old Johnson for Bobby bythe late John Burnit:

 The mere fact that a man has been foolish four times is no absolute proof that he is a fool; but it's a mighty significant hint. However, Bobby, I'm still betting on you, for by this time you ought to have your fighting blood at the right temperature; and I've seen you play great polo in spite of a cracked rib. 

 "P. S. If any one else intimates that you are a fool, trounce him one for me. "

"If there's anything in heredity you're a lucky young man, " saidJolter seriously, as he handed back the letter. 

"I think the governor was worried about it himself, " admitted Bobbywith a smile; "and if he was doubtful I can't blame you for being so. Nevertheless, Mr. Jolter, I must insist that we are going to have apolicy, " and he quietly outlined it. 

Mr. Jolter had been so long a directing voice in the newspaperbusiness that he could not be startled by anything short of apresidential assassination, and that at press time. Nevertheless, atBobby's announcement he immediately sought for his pipe and wascompelled to go into his own office after it. He came back lighting itand felt better. 

"It's suicide!" he declared. 

"Then we'll commit suicide, " said Bobby pleasantly. 

Mr. Jolter, after long, grinning thought, solemnly shook hands withhim. 

"I'm for it, " said he. "Here's hoping that we survive long enough towrite our own obituary!"

Mr. Jolter, to whom fighting was as the breath of new-mown hay, andwho had long been curbed in that delightful occupation, went back intohis own office with a more cheerful air than he had worn for many aday, and issued a few forceful orders, winding up with a direction tothe press foreman to prepare for ten thousand extra copies thatevening. 

When the three o'clock edition of the _Bulletin_ came on the street, the entire first page was taken up by a life-size half-tone portraitof Sam Stone, and underneath it was the simple legend:

 THIS MAN MUST LEAVE TOWN

The first citizens to awake to the fact that the _Bulletin_ was bornanew were the newsboys. Those live and enterprising merchants, with avery keen judgment of comparative values, had long since ceased tocall the _Bulletin_ at all; half of them had even ceased to carry it. Within two minutes after this edition was out they were clamoring foradditional copies, and for the first time in years the alley door ofthe _Bulletin_ was besieged by a seething mob of ragged, diminutive, howling masculinity. Out on the street, however, they were not evennow calling the name of the paper. They were holding forth that blackfirst page and screaming just the name of Sam Stone. 

Sam Stone! It was a magic name, for Stone had been the boss of thetown since years without number; a man who had never held office, butwho dictated the filling of all offices; a man who was not ostensiblyin any business, but who swayed the fortune of every publicenterprise; a self-confessed grafter whom crusade after crusade hadfailed to dislodge from absolute power. The crowds upon the streetsnapped eagerly at that huge portrait and searched as eagerly throughthe paper for more about the Boss. They did not find it, except uponthe editorial page, where, in the space usually devoted to drivelabout "How Kind We Should Be to Dumb Animals, " and "Why Fathers ShouldConfide More in Their Sons, " appeared in black type a paraphrase ofthe legend on the outside: "_Sam Stone Must Leave Town. _" Beneath wasthe additional information: "Further issues of the _Bulletin_ willtell why. " Above and below this was nothing but startlingly whiteblank paper, two solid columns of it up and down the page. 

Down in the deep basement of the _Bulletin_, the big three-deckpresses, two of which had been standing idle since the lastpresidential election, were pounding out copies by the thousand, whilegrimy pressmen, blackened with ink, perspired most happily. 

By five o'clock, men and even girls, pouring from their offices, andlaborers coming from work, had all heard of it, and on the street thebold defiance created first a gasp and then a smile. Another attemptto dislodge Sam Stone was, in the light of previous efforts, alaughable thing to contemplate; and yet it was interesting. 

In the office of the _Bulletin_ it was a gleeful occasion. Nonchalantreporters sat down with that amazing front page spread out beforethem, studied the brutal face of Stone and chuckled cynically. LeanDoc Miller, "assistant city editor, " or rather head copy reader, litone cigarette from the stub of another and observed, to nobody inparticular but to everybody in general:

"I can see where we all contribute for a beautiful Gates Ajar floralpiece for one Robert Burnit;" whereupon fat "Bugs" Roach, "handlingcopy" across the table from him, inquired:

"Do you suppose the new boss really has this much nerve, or is he justa damned fool?"

"Stone won't do a thing to _him_!" ingratiatingly observed a "cub"reporter, laying down twelve pages of "copy" about a man who hadalmost been burglarized. 

"Look here, you Greenleaf Whittier Squiggs, " said Doc Miller mostsavagely, not because he had any particular grudge against theunfortunately named G. W. , but because of discipline and the customwith "cubs, " "the next time you're sent out on a twenty-minuteassignment like this, remember the number of the _Bulletin_, 427 GrandStreet. The telephone is Central 2051, and don't forget to report thesame day. Did you get the man's name? Uh-huh. His address? Uh-huh. Well, we don't want the item. "

Slow and phlegmatic Jim Brown, who had been city editor on the_Bulletin_ almost since it was the _Bulletin_ under half a dozenchanges of ownership and nearly a score of managing editors, saunteredover into Jolter's room with a copy of the paper in his hand, and along black stogie held by some miracle in the corner of his mouth, where it would be quite out of the road of conversation. 

"Pretty good stuff, " he drawled, indicating the remarkable first page. 

"The greatest circus act that was ever pulled off in the newspaperbusiness, " asserted Jolter. "It will quadruple the present circulationof the _Bulletin_ in a week. "

"Make or break, " assented the city editor, "with the odds in favor ofthe break. "

A slenderly-built young man, whose red face needed a shave and whoseclothes, though wrinkled and unbrushed, shrieked of quality, camestumbling up the stairs in such hot haste as was possible in hiscondition, and without ceremony or announcement burst into the roomwhere Bobby Burnit, with that day's issue of the _Bulletin_ spread outbefore him, was trying earnestly to get a professional idea of theproper contents of a newspaper. 

"Great goods, old man!" said the stranger. "I want to congratulate youon your lovely nerve, " and seizing Bobby's hand he shook it violently. 

"Thanks, " said Bobby, not quite sure whether to be amused orresentful. "Who are you?"

"I'm Dillingham, " announced the red-faced young man with a cheerfulsmile. 

Bobby was about to insist upon further information, when Mr. Joltercame in to introduce Brown, who had not yet met Mr. Burnit. 

"Dill, " drawled Brown, with a twinkle in his eye, "how much money haveyou?"

"Money to burn; money in every pocket, " asserted Mr. Dillingham;"money to last for ever, " and he jammed both hands in his trousers'pockets. 

It was an astonishing surprise to Mr. Dillingham, after groping inthose pockets, to find that he brought up only a dollar bill in hisleft hand and forty-five cents in silver in his right. He was stillcontemplating in awed silence this perplexing fact when Brown handedhim a five-dollar bill. 

"Now, you run right out and get stewed to the eyebrows again, "directed Brown. "Get properly pickled and have it over with, then showup here in the morning with a headache and get to work. We want you totake charge of the Sam Stone exposé, and in to-morrow's _Bulletin_ wewant the star introduction of your life. "

"Do you mean to say you're going to trust the whole field conduct ofthis campaign to that chap?" asked Bobby, frowning, when Dillinghamhad gone. 

"This is his third day, so Dill's safe for to-morrow morning, " Brownhastened to assure him. "He'll be up here early, so penitent thathe'll be incased in a blue fog--and he'll certainly deliver thegoods. "

Bobby sighed and gave it up. This was a new world. 

Over in his dingy little office, up his dingy flight of stairs, SamStone sat at his bare and empty old desk, looking contemplatively outof the window, when Frank Sharpe--his luxuriant gray mustache in anextraordinary and most violent state of straggling curliness--camenervously bustling in with a copy of the _Bulletin_ in his hand. 

"Have you seen this?" he shrilled. 

"Heard about it, " grunted Stone. 

"But what do you think of it?" demanded Sharpe indignantly, and spreadthe paper out on the desk before the Boss, thumping it violently withhis knuckles. 

Stone studied it well, without the slightest change of expression uponhis heavy features. 

"It's a swell likeness, " he quietly conceded, by and by. 

CHAPTER XXIII

BOBBY BEGINS TO GIVE TESTIMONY THAT HE IS OLD JOHN BURNIT'S SON

Closeted with Jolter and Brown, and mapping out with them thedangerous campaign into which they had plunged, Bobby did not leavethe office of the _Bulletin_ until six o'clock. At the curb, just ashe was about to step into his waiting machine, Biff Bates hailed himwith vast enthusiasm. 

"Go to it, Bobby!" said he. "I'm backing you across the board, win, place and show; but let me give you a hot tip right from the stables. You want to be afraid to go home in the dark, or Stone's lobbygowswill lean on you with a section of plumbing. "

"I've thought of that, Biff, " laughed Bobby; "and I think I'llorganize a band of murderers of my own. "

Johnson, whom Bobby had quite forgotten in the stress of the day, joined them at this moment. Thirty years as head bookkeeper andconfidential adviser in old John Burnit's merchandise establishmenthad not fitted lean Johnson for the less dignified and more flurriedwork of a newspaper office, even in the business department, and hewas looking very much fagged. 

"Well, Johnson, what do you think of my first issue of the_Bulletin_?" asked Bobby pleasantly. 

Johnson looked genuinely distressed. 

"To tell you the truth, Mr. Burnit, " said he, "I have not seen it. Inever in all my life saw a place where there were so manyinterruptions to work. If we could only be back in your father'sstore, sir. "

"We'll be back there before we quit, " said Bobby confidently; "or I'llbe in the incurable ward. "

"I hope so, sir, " said Johnson dismally, and strode across the streetto catch his car; but he came back hastily to add: "I meant about thestore; not about the asylum. "

Biff Bates laughed as he clambered into the tonneau with Bobby. 

"If you'd make a billion dollars, Bobby, but didn't get back yourfather's business that Silas Trimmer snaked away from you, Johnsonwould think you'd overlooked the one best bet. "

"So would I, " said Bobby soberly, and he had but very little more tosay until the chauffeur stopped at Bobby's own door, where puffy oldApplerod, who had been next to Johnson in his usefulness to old JohnBurnit, stood nervously awaiting him on the steps. 

"Terrible, sir! Terrible!" spluttered Applerod the moment he caughtsight of Bobby. "This open defiance of Mr. Stone will put entirely outof existence what little there is left of the Brightlight ElectricCompany. "

"Cheer up, Applerod, for death must come to us all, " encouraged Bobby. "Such shreds and fragments of the Brightlight as there are left wouldhave been wiped out anyhow; and frankly, if you must have it, I putyou in there as general manager, when I shifted Johnson to the_Bulletin_ this morning, because there was nothing to manage. "

Applerod threw up his hands in dismay. 

"And there will be less. Oh, Mr. Burnit, if your father were onlyhere!"

Bobby, whose suavity Applerod had never before seen ruffled, turnedupon him angrily. 

"I'm tired hearing about my father, Applerod, " he declared. "I reverethe governor's memory too much to want to be made angry by the mentionof his name. Hereafter, kindly catch the idea, if you can, that I ammy own man and must work out my own salvation; and I propose to do it!Biff, you don't mind if I put off seeing you until to-morrow? I have adinner engagement this evening and very little time to dress. "

"His own man, " said Applerod sorrowfully when Bobby had left them. "John Burnit would be half crazy if he could know what a botch his sonis making of things. I don't see how a man could let himself becheated four times in business. "

"I can tell you, " retorted Biff. "All his old man ever did for him wasto stuff his pockets with kale, and let him grow up into the sort ofclubs where one sport says: 'I'm going to walk down to the corner. 'Says the other sport: 'I'll bet you see more red-headed girls on theway down than you do on the way back. ' Says the first sport: 'You'reon for a hundred. ' He goes down to the corner and he comes back. 'Howabout the red-headed girls?' asks the second sport. 'I lose, ' says thefirst sport; 'here's your hundred. ' Now, when Bobby is left realmoney, he starts in to play the same open-face game, and when one ofthese business wolves tells him anything Bobby don't stop to figurewhether the mut means what he says, or means something else thatsounds like the same thing. Now, if Bobby was a simp they'd sting himin so many places that he'd be swelled all over, like an exhibitioncream puff; but he ain't a simp. It took him four times to learn thathe can't take a man's word in business. That's all he needed. Bobby'sawake now, and more than that he's mad, and if I hear you make anothercrack that he ain't about all the candy I'll sick old Johnson on you, "and with this dire threat Biff wheeled, leaving Mr. Applerodspeechless with red-faced indignation. 

It was just a quiet family dinner that Bobby attended that night atthe Ellistons', with Uncle Dan and Aunt Constance Elliston at the headand foot of the table, and across from him the smiling face of Agnes. He was so good to look at that Agnes was content just to watch him, but Aunt Constance noted his abstraction and chided him upon it. 

"Really, Bobby, " said she, "since you have gone into business you'reruined socially. "

"Frankly, I don't mind, " he replied, smiling. "I'd rather be ruinedsocially than financially. In spite of certain disagreeable featuresof it, I have a feeling upon me to-night that I'm going to like thestruggle. "

"You're starting a stiff one now, " observed Uncle Dan dryly. "Beginning an open fight against Sam Stone is a good deal like beingsuspended over Hades by a single hair--amidst a shower of Romancandles. "

"That's putting it about right, I guess, " admitted Bobby; "but I'mrelying on the fact that the public at heart is decent. "

"Do you remember, Bobby, what Commodore Vanderbilt said about thepublic?" retorted Uncle Dan. "They're decent, all right, but theywon't stick together in any aggressive movement short of gunpowder. Inthe meantime, Stone has more entrenchments than even you can dream. For instance, I should not wonder but that within a very short time Ishall be forced to try my influence with you in his behalf. "

"How?" asked Bobby incredulously. 

"Well, I am trying to get a spur track from the X. Y. Z. Railroad tomy factory on Spindle Street. The X. Y. Z. Is perfectly willing to putin the track, and I'm trying to have the city council grant us apermit. Now, who is the city council?"

"Stone, " Bobby was compelled to admit. 

"Of course. I have already arranged to pay quite a sum of money to thecapable and honest city councilman of that ward. The capable andhonest councilman will go to Stone and give up about three-fourths ofwhat I pay him. Then Stone will pass the word out to the othercouncilmen that he's for Alderman Holdup's spur track permit, and Iget it. Very simple arrangement, and satisfactory, but, if they do notshove that measure through at their meeting to-morrow night, beforeStone finds out any possible connection between you and me, the priceof it will not be money. I'll be sent to you. "

"I see, " said Bobby in dismay. "In other words, it will be put flatlyup to me; I'll either have to quit my attacks on Stone, or be directlyresponsible for your losing your valuable spur track. "

"Exactly, " said Uncle Dan. 

Bobby drew a long breath. 

"I'm very much afraid, Mr. Elliston, that you will have to do withoutyour spur. "

Uncle Dan's eyes twinkled. 

"I'm willing, " said he. "I have a good offer to sell that branch of myplant anyhow, and I think I'll dispose of it. I have been very frankwith you about this, so that you will know exactly what to expect whenother people come at you. You will be beset as you never were before. "

"I have been looking for an injunction, myself. "

"You will have no injunction, for Stone scarcely dares go publiclyinto his own courts, " said Uncle Dan, with a pretty thoroughknowledge, gained through experience, of the methods of the "Stonegang"; "though he might even use that as a last resort. That will beafter intimidation fails, for it is quite seriously probable that theywill hire somebody to beat you into insensibility. If that don't teachyou the proper lesson, they will probably kill you. "

Agnes looked up apprehensively, but catching Bobby's smile took thislatter phase of the matter as a joke. Bobby himself was not deeplyimpressed with it, but before he went away that night Uncle Dan tookhim aside and urged upon him the seriousness of the matter. 

"I'll fight them with their own weapons, then, " declared Bobby. "I'llorganize a counter band of thugs, and I'll block every move they makewith one of the same sort. Somehow or other I think I am going towin. "

"Of course you will win, " said Agnes confidently, overhearing thislast phrase; and with that most prized of all encouragement, the faithin his prowess of _the_ one woman, Bobby, for that night at least, felt quite contemptuous of the grilling fight to come. 

His second issue of the _Bulletin_ contained on the front page athree-column picture of Sam Stone, with the same caption, togetherwith a full-page article, written by Dillingham from data secured byhimself and the others who were put upon the "story. " This set forththe main iniquities of Sam Stone and his crew of municipal grafters. In the third day's issue the picture was reduced to two columns, occupying the left-hand upper corner of the front page, where Bobbyordered it to remain permanently as the slogan of the _Bulletin_; andnow Dillingham began his long series of articles, taking up point bypoint the ramifications of Stone's machine, and coming closer andcloser daily to people who would much rather have been left entirelyout of the picture. 

It was upon this third day that Bobby, becoming apprehensive merelybecause nothing had happened, received a visit from Frank Sharpe. Mr. Sharpe was as nattily dressed as ever, and presented himself aspleasantly as a summer breeze across fields of clover. 

"I came in to see you about merging the Brightlight Electric Companywith the Consolidated, Mr. Burnit, " said Mr. Sharpe in a chatty tone, laying his hat, cane and gloves upon Bobby's desk and seating himselfcomfortably. 

From his face there was no doubt in Mr. Sharpe's mind that this was amere matter of an interview with a satisfactory termination, for Mr. Sharpe had done business with Bobby before; but something had happenedto Bobby in the meantime. 

"When I get ready for a merger of the Brightlight with theConsolidated I'll tell you about it; and also I'll tell you theterms, " Bobby advised him with a snap, and for the first time Mr. Sharpe noted what a good jaw Bobby had. 

"I should think, " hesitated Sharpe, "that in the present condition ofthe Brightlight almost any terms would be attractive to you. You haveno private consumers now, and your contract for city lighting, whichyou can not evade except by bankruptcy, is losing you money. "

"If that were news to me it would be quite startling, " respondedBobby, "but you see, Mr. Sharpe, I am quite well acquainted with thefacts myself. Also, I have a strong suspicion that you tampered withmy plant; that your hired agents cut my wires, ruined my dynamos anddestroyed the efficiency of my service generally. "

"You will find it very difficult to prove that, Mr. Burnit, " saidSharpe, with a sternness which could not quite conceal a lurkingsmile. 

"I'm beginning to like difficulty, " retorted Bobby. "I do not mindtelling you that I was never angry before in my life, and I'msurprised to find myself enjoying the sensation. "

Bobby was still more astonished to find himself laying his fisttensely upon his desk. The lurking smile was now gone entirely fromMr. Sharpe's face. 

"I must admit, Mr. Burnit, that your affairs have turned out ratherunfortunately, " he said, "but I think that they might be remedied foryou a bit, perhaps. Suppose you go and see Stone. "

"I do not care to see Mr. Stone, " said Bobby. 

"But he wants to see you, " persisted Sharpe. "In fact, he told me sothis morning. I'm quite sure you would find it to your advantage todrop over there. "

"I shall never enter Mr. Stone's office until he has vacated it forgood, " said Bobby; "then I might be induced to come over and break upthe furniture. If Stone wants to see me I'm keeping fairly regularoffice hours here. "

"It is not Mr. Stone's habit to go to other people, " bluffed Sharpe, growing somewhat nervous; for it was one of Stone's traits not toforgive the failure of a mission. He had no use for extenuatingcircumstances, He never looked at anything in this world but results. 

Bobby took down the receiver of his house telephone. 

"I'd like to speak to Mr. Jolter, please, " said he. 

Sharpe rose to go. 

"Just wait a moment, Mr. Sharpe, " said Bobby peremptorily, and Sharpestopped. "Jolter, " he directed crisply, turning again to the 'phone, "kindly step into my office, will you?"

A moment later, while Sharpe stood wondering, Jolter came in, andgrinned as he noted Bobby's visitor. 

"Mr. Jolter, " asked Bobby, "have we a good portrait of Mr. Sharpe?"

Jolter, still grinning, stated that they had. 

"Have a three-column half-tone made of it for this evening's_Bulletin_. "

Sharpe fairly spluttered. 

"Mr. Burnit, if you print my picture in the _Bulletin_ connected withanything derogatory, I'll--I'll--"

Bobby waited politely for a moment. 

"Go ahead, Mr. Sharpe, " said he. "I'm interested to know just what youwill do, because we're going to print the picture, connected withsomething quite derogatory. Now finish your threat. "

Sharpe gazed at him a moment, speechless with rage, and then stampedfrom the office. 

Jolter, quietly chuckling, turned to Bobby. 

"I guess you'll do, " he commented. "If you last long enough you'llwin. "

"Thanks, " said Bobby dryly, and then he smiled. "Say, Jolter, " headded, "it's bully fun being angry. I'm just beginning to realize whatI have been missing all these years. Go ahead with Sharpe's pictureand print anything you please about him. I guess you can secure enoughmaterial without going out of the office, and if you can't I'll supplyyou with some. "

Jolter looked at his watch and hurried for the door. Minutes wereprecious if he wanted to get that Sharpe cut made in time for theafternoon edition. At the door, however, he turned a bit anxiously. 

"I suppose you carry a gun, don't you?"

"By no means, " said Bobby. "Never owned one. "

"I'd advise you to get a good one at once, " and Jolter hurried away. 

That evening's edition of the _Bulletin_ contained a beautifulhalf-tone of Mr. Sharpe. Above it was printed: "The _Bulletin's_Rogues' Gallery, " and beneath was the caption: "Hadn't this man bettergo, too?"

CHAPTER XXIV

EDITOR BURNIT DISCOVERS THAT HE IS FIGHTING AN ENTIRE CITY INSTEAD OFONE MAN

At four o'clock of that same day Mr. Brown came in, and Mr. Brown wasgrinning. In the last three days a grin had become the trade-mark ofthe office, for the staff of the _Bulletin_ was enjoying itself asnever before in all its history. 

"Stone's in my office, " said Brown. "Wants to see you. "

Bobby was interestedly leafing over the pages of the _Bulletin_. Helooked leisurely at his watch and yawned. 

"Tell Mr. Stone that I am busy, but that I will receive him in fifteenminutes, " he directed, whereupon Mr. Brown, appreciating the joke, grinned still more expansively and withdrew. 

Bobby, as calmly as he could, went on with his perusal of the_Bulletin_. To deny that he was somewhat tense over the cominginterview would be foolish. Never had a quarter of an hour dragged soslowly, but he waited it out, with five minutes more on top of it, andthen he telephoned to Brown to know if Stone was still there. He wasrelieved to find that he was. 

"Tell him to come in, " he ordered. 

If Stone was inwardly fuming when he entered the room he gave noindication of it. His heavy face bore only his habitually sullenexpression, his heavy-lidded eyes bore only their usual somberness, his heavy brow had in it no crease other than those that time hadgraven there. With the deliberateness peculiar to him he planted hisheavy body in a big arm-chair opposite to Bobby, without removing hishat. 

"I don't believe in beating around the bush, Mr. Burnit, " said he, with a glance over his shoulder to make sure that the door was closed. "Of course you're after something. What do you want?"

Bobby looked at him in wonder. He had heard much of Stone's bluntness, and now he was fascinated by it. Nevertheless, he did not forget hisown viewpoint. 

"Oh, I don't want much, " he observed pleasantly, "only just yourscalp; yours and the scalps of a few others who gave me my education, from Silas Trimmer up and down. I think one of the things thataggravated me most was the recent elevation of Trimmer to thechairmanship of your waterworks commission. Trivial as it was, thisprobably had as much to do with my sudden determination to wipe youout, as your having the Brightlight's poles removed from MarketStreet. "

Stone laid a heavy hand easily upon Bobby's desk. It was a stronghand, a big hand, brown and hairy, and from the third pudgy fingerglowed a huge diamond. 

"As far as Trimmer is concerned, " said he, quite undisturbed, "you canhave his head any minute. He's a mutt. "

"You don't need to give me Mr. Trimmer's head, " replied Bobby, quiteas calmly. "I intend to get that myself. "

"And as for the Brightlight, " continued Stone as if he had not beeninterrupted, "I sent Sharpe over to see you about that this morning. Ithink we can fix it so that you can get back your two hundred andfifty thousand. The deal's been worth a lot more than that to theConsolidated. "

"No doubt, " agreed Bobby. "However, I'm not looking, at the presentmoment, for a sop to the Brightlight Company. It will be time enoughfor that when I have forced the Consolidated into the hands of areceiver. "

Stone looked at Bobby thoughtfully between narrowed eyelids. 

"Look here, young fellow, " said he presently. "Now, you take it fromme, and I have been through the mill, that there ain't any use holdinga grouch. The mere doing damage don't get you anything unless it's towhip somebody else into line with a warning. I take it that this ain'twhat you're trying to do. You think you're simply playing a grouchgame, table stakes; but if you'll simmer down you'll find you've got aprice. Now, I'd rather have you with me than against me. If you'lljust say what you want I'll get it for you if it's in reach. But don'tfroth. I've cleaned up as much money as your daddy did, just bykeeping my temper. "

"I'm going to keep mine, too, " Bobby informed him quite cheerfully. "Ihave just found that I have one, and I like it. "

Stone brushed this triviality aside with a wave of his heavy hand. 

"Quit kidding, " he said, "and come out with it. I see you're no piker, anyhow. You're playing for big game. What is it you want?"

"As I said before, not very much, " declared Bobby. "I only want togrind your machine into powder. I want to dig up the rotten municipalcontrol of this city, root and branch. I want to ferret out every bitof crookedness in which you have been concerned, and every bit thatyou have caused. I want to uncover every man, high or low, for justwhat he is, and I don't care how well protected he is nor how shininghis reputation, if he's concerned in a crooked deal I'm going afterhim--"

"There won't be many of us left, " Stone interrupted with a smile. 

"--I want to get back some of the money you have stolen from thiscity, " continued Bobby; "and I want, last of all, to drive you out ofthis town for good. "

Stone rose with a sigh. 

"This is the only chance I'll give you to climb in with the music, " herumbled. "I've kept off three days, figuring out where you wereleading to and what you were after. Now, last of all, what will youtake to call it off?"

"I have told you the price, " said Bobby. 

"Then you're looking for trouble and you must have it, eh?"

"I suppose I must. "

"Then you'll get it, " and without the sign of a frown upon his browMr. Stone left the office. 

The next morning things began to happen. The First National Bankcalled up the business office of the _Bulletin_ and ordered itsadvertisement discontinued. Not content alone with that, President DeGraff called up Bobby personally, and in a very cold and dignifiedvoice told him that the First National was compelled to withdraw itspatronage on account of the undignified personal attacks in which the_Bulletin_ was indulging. Bobby whistled softly. He knew De Graffquite well; they were, in fact, upon most intimate terms, socially. 

"I should think, De Graff, " Bobby remonstrated, "that of all peoplethe banks should be glad to have all this crookedness rooted out ofthe city. As a matter of fact, I intended shortly to ask yourcoöperation in the formation of a citizens' committee to insure honestpolitics. "

"I really could not take any active part in such a movement, Mr. Burnit, " returned De Graff, still more coldly. "The conservatismnecessary to my position forbids my connection with any sensationalpublicity whatsoever. "

An hour later, Crone, the advertising manager, came up to Bobby verymuch worried, to report that not only the First National but theSecond Market Bank had stopped their advertising, as had Trimmer andCompany, and another of the leading dry-goods firms. 

"Of course, " said Crone, "your editorial policy is your own, but I'mafraid that it is going to be ruinous to your advertising. "

"I shouldn't wonder, " admitted Bobby dryly, and that was all thesatisfaction he gave Crone; but inwardly he was somewhat disturbed. 

He had not thought of the potency of this line of attack. While heknew nothing of the newspaper business, he had already made sure thatthe profit was in the advertising. He sent for Jolter. 

"Ben, " he asked, "what is the connection between the First Nationaland the Second Market Banks and Sam Stone?"

"Money, " said the managing editor promptly. "Both banks aredepositories of city funds. "

"I see, " said Bobby slowly. "Do any other banks enjoy this patronage?"

"The Merchants' and the Planters' and Traders' hold the county funds, which are equally at Stone's disposal. "

Bobby heard this news in silence, and Jolter, after looking at himnarrowly for a moment, added:

"I'll tell you something else. Not one of the four banks pays to thecity or the county one penny of interest on these deposits. This iswell known to the newspapers, but none of them has dared use it. "

"Go after them, " said Bobby. 

"Moreover, it is strongly suspected that the banks pay interestprivately to Stone, through a small and select ring in the court-houseand in the city hall. "

"Go after them. "

"I suppose you know the men who will be involved in this, " saidJolter. 

"Some of my best friends, I expect, " said Bobby. 

"And some of the most influential citizens in this town, " retortedJolter. "They can ruin the _Bulletin_. They could ruin any business. "

"The thing's crooked, isn't it?" demanded Bobby. 

"As a dog's hind leg. "

"Go after them, Jolter!" Bobby reiterated. Then he laughed aloud. "DeGraff just telephoned me that 'the conservatism of his positionforbids him to take part in any sensational publicity whatsoever. '"

Comment other than a chuckle was superfluous from either one of them, and Jolter departed to the city editor's room, to bring joy to theheart of the staff. 

It was "Bugs" Roach who scented the far-reaching odor of this movewith the greatest joy. 

"You know what this means, don't you?" he delightedly commented. "Agrand jury investigation. Oh, listen to the band!"

Before noon the Merchants' and the Planters' and Traders' Banks hadwithdrawn their advertisements. 

At about the same hour a particularly atrocious murder was committedin one of the suburbs. Up in the reporters' room of the policestation, Thomas, of the _Bulletin_, and Graham, of the _Chronicle_, were indulging in a quiet game of whist with two of the morningnewspaper boys, when a roundsman stepped to the door and called Grahamout. Graham came back a moment later after his coat, with such studiednonchalance that the other boys, eternally suspicious as policereporters grow to be, looked at him narrowly, and Thomas asked him, also with studied nonchalance:

"The candy-store girl, or the one in the laundry office?"

"Business, young fellow, business, " returned Graham loftily. "I guessthe _Chronicle_ knows when it has a good man. I'm called into theoffice to save the paper. They're sending a cub down to cover theafternoon. Don't scoop him, old man. "

"Not unless I get a chance, " promised Thomas, but after Graham hadgone he went down to the desk and, still unsatisfied, asked:

"Anything doing, Lieut. ?"

"Dead as a door-nail, " replied the lieutenant, and Thomas, still withan instinct that something was wrong, still sensitive to a certainsuppressed tingling excitement about the very atmosphere of the place, went slowly back to the reporters' room, where he spent a worriedhalf-hour. 

The noonday edition of the _Chronicle_ carried, in the identicalcolumns devoted in the _Bulletin_ to a further attack on Stone, alurid account of the big murder; and the _Bulletin_ had not a line ofit! A sharp call from Brown to Thomas, at central police, apprised thelatter that he had been "scooped, " and brought out the facts in thecase. Thomas hurried down-stairs and bitterly upbraided LieutenantCasper. 

"Look here, you Thomas, " snapped Casper; "you _Bulletin_ guys havebeen too fresh around here for a long time. "

In Casper's eyes--Casper with whom he had always been on cordialjoking terms--he saw cruel implacability, and, furious, he knewhimself to be "in" for that most wearing of all newspaper jobs--"doingpolice" for a paper that was "in bad" with the administration. Heneeded no one to tell him the cause. At three-thirty, Thomas, andCamden, who was doing the city hall, and Greenleaf Whittier Squiggs, who was subbing for the day on the courts, appeared before Jim Brownin an agonized body. Thomas had been scooped on the big murder, Camdenand G. W. Squiggs had been scooped, at the city hall and the countybuilding, on the only items worth while, and they were all at whiteheat; though it was a great consolation to Squiggs, after all, to findhimself in such distinguished company. 

Brown heard them in silence, and with great solemnity conducted themacross the hall to Jolter, who also heard them in silence andconducted them into the adjoining room to Bobby. Here Jolter stoodback and eyed young Mr. Burnit with great interest as his twoexperienced veterans and his ambitious youngster poured forth theirseveral tales of woe. Bobby, as it became him to be, was muchdisturbed. 

"How's the circulation of the _Bulletin_?" he asked of Jolter. 

"Five times what it ever was in its history, " responded Jolter. 

"Do you suppose we can hold it?"

"Possibly. "

"How much does a scoop amount to?"

"Well, " confessed Jolter, with his eyes twinkling, "I hate to tell youbefore the boys, but my own opinion is that we know it and the_Chronicle_ knows it and Stone knows it, but day after to-morrow thepublic couldn't tell you on its sacred oath whether it read the firstaccount of the murder in the _Bulletin_ or in the _Chronicle_. "

Bobby heaved a sigh of relief. 

"I always had the impression that a 'beat' meant the death, cortègeand cremation of the newspaper that fell behind in the race, " hesmiled. "Boys, I'm afraid you'll have to stand it for a while. Do thebest you can and get beaten as little as possible. By the way, Jolter, I want to see you a minute, " and the mournful delegation of three, nowhit less mournful because they had been assured that they would notbe held accountable for being scooped, filed out. 

"What's the connection, " demanded Bobby, the minute they were alone, "between the police department and Sam Stone?"

"Money!" replied Jolter. "Chief of Police Cooley is in reality chiefcollector. The police graft is one of the richest Stone has. Therake-off from saloons that are supposed to close at one and fromcrooked gambling joints and illegal resorts of various kinds, amounts, I suppose, to not less than ten to fifteen thousand dollars a week. Ofcourse, the patrolmen get some, but the bulk of it goes to Cooley, whowas appointed by Stone, and the biggest slice of all goes to theBoss. "

"Go after Cooley, " said Bobby. Then suddenly he struck his fist uponthe desk. "Great Heavens, man!" he exclaimed. "At the end of everyavenue and street and alley that I turn down with the _Bulletin_ Ifind an open sewer. "

"The town is pretty well supplied, " admitted Jolter. "How do you feelnow about your policy?"

"Pretty well staggered, " confessed Bobby; "but we're going throughwith the thing just the same. "

"It's a man's-size job, " declared Jolter; "but if you get away with itthe _Bulletin_ will be the best-paying piece of newspaper propertywest of New York. "

"Not the way the advertising's going, " said Bobby, shaking his headand consulting a list on his desk. "Where has Stone a hold on thedry-goods firm of Rolands and Crawford?"

"They built out circular show-windows, all around their big block, andthese extend illegally upon two feet of the sidewalk. "

"And how about the Ebony Jewel Coal Company?"

"They have been practically allowed to close up Second Street, fromWater to Canal, for a dump. "

Bobby sighed hopelessly. 

"We can't fight everybody in town, " he complained. 

"Yes, but we can!" exclaimed Jolter with a sudden fire that surprisedBobby, since it was the first the managing editor displayed. "Don'tweaken, Burnit! I'm with you in this thing, heart and soul! If we canhold out until next election we will sweep everything before us. "

"We will hold out!" declared Bobby. 

"I am so sure of it that I'll stand treat, " assented Mr. Jolter withvast enthusiasm, and over an old oak table, in a quiet place, Mr. Jolter and Mr. Burnit, having found the sand in each other's craws, cemented a pretty strong liking. 

CHAPTER XXV

AN EXCITING GAME OF TIT FOR TAT WITH HIRED THUGS

The _Bulletin_, continuing its warfare upon Stone and every one whosupported him, hit upon names that had never before been mentioned butin terms of the highest respect, and divers and sundry complacentgentlemen who attended church quite regularly began to look for acyclone cellar. They were compromised with Stone and they could notplacate Bobby. The four banks that had withdrawn their advertisements, after a hasty conference with Stone put them back again the first daytheir names were mentioned. The business department of the _Bulletin_cheerfully accepted those advertisements at the increased ratejustified by the _Bulletin's_ increased circulation; but the editorialdepartment just as cheerfully kept castigating the erring conservatorsof the public money, and the advertisements disappeared again. 

Bobby's days now were beset from a hundred quarters with agonizedappeals to change his policy. This man and that man and the other manhigh in commercial and social and political circles came to him withall sorts of pressure, and even Payne Winthrop and Nick Allstyne, twoof his particular cronies of the Idlers', not being able to catch himat the club any more, came up to his office. 

"This won't do, old man, " protested Payne; "we're missing you atbilliards and bridge whist, but your refusal to take part in thecoming polo tourney was the last straw. You're getting to be a regularplebe. "

"I am a plebe, " admitted Bobby. "What's the use to deny it? My fatherwas a plebe. He came off the farm with no earthly possessions morevaluable than the patches on his trousers. I am one generation fromthe soil, and since I have turned over a furrow or two, just plainearth smells good to me. "

Both of Bobby's friends laughed. They liked him too well to take himseriously in this. 

"But really, " said Nick, returning to the attack, "the boys at theclub were talking over the thing and think this rather bad form, thissort of a fight you're making. You're bound to become involved in anasty controversy. "

"Yes?" inquired Bobby pleasantly. "Watch me become worse involved. More than that, I think I shall come down to the Idlers', when I getthings straightened out here, organize a club league and make youfellows march with banners and torch-lights. "

This being a more hilarious joke than the other the boys laughed quitepolitely, though Payne Winthrop grew immediately serious again. 

"But we can't lose you, Bobby, " he insisted. "We want you to quit thissort of business and come back again to the old crowd. There are sofew of us left, you know, that we're getting lonesome. Stan Rogers isgetting up a glorious hunt and he wants us all to come up to his lodgefor a month at least. You should be tired of this by now, anyhow. "

"Not a bit of it, " declared Bobby. 

"Oh, of course, you have your money involved, " admitted Payne, "andyou must play it through on that account; but I'll tell you: if you dowant to sell I know where I could find a buyer for you at a profit. "

Bobby turned on him like a flash. 

"Look here, Payne, " said he. "Where is your interest in this?"

"My interest?" repeated Payne blankly. 

"Yes, your interest. What have you to gain by having me sell out?"

"Why, really, Bobby--" began Payne, thinking to temporize. 

"You're here for that purpose, and must tell me why, " insisted Bobbysternly, tapping his finger on the desk. 

"Well, if you must know, " stammered Payne, taken out of himself bysheer force of Bobby's manner, "my respected and revered--"

"I see, " said Bobby. 

"The--the pater is thinking of entering politics next year, and herather wants an organ. "

"And Nick, where's yours?"

"Well, " confessed Nick, with no more force of reservation than hadPayne when mastery was used upon him, "mother's city property andmine, you know, contains some rather tumbledown buildings that arereally good for a number of years yet, but which adverse municipalgovernment might--might depreciate in value. "

"Just a minute, " said Bobby, and he sent for Jolter. 

"Ben, " he asked, "do you know anything about Mr. Adam Winthrop'spolitical aspirations?"

"I understand he's being groomed for governor, " said Jolter. 

"Meet his son, Mr. Jolter--Mr. Payne Winthrop. Also Mr. Nick Allstyne. I suppose Mr. Winthrop is to run on Stone's ticket?" continued Bobby, breaking in upon the formalities as quickly as possible. 

"Certainly. "

"Payne, " said Bobby, "if your father wants to talk with me about the_Bulletin_ he must come himself. Jolter, do you know where theAllstyne properties are?"

Jolter looked at Nick and Nick colored. 

"That's rather a blunt question, under the circumstances, Mr. Burnit, "said Jolter, "but I don't see why it shouldn't be answered as bluntly. It's a row of two blocks on the most notorious street of the town, frame shacks that are likely to be the start of a holocaust, any windynight, which will sweep the entire down-town district. They shouldhave been condemned years ago. "

"Nick, " said Bobby, "I'll give you one month to dispose of thatproperty, because after that length of time I'm going after it. "

This was but a sample. Bobby had at last become suspicious, and as oldJohn Burnit had shrewdly observed in one of his letters: "It hurts toacquire suspiciousness, but it is quite necessary; only don't overdoit. "

Bobby, however, was in a field where suspiciousness could scarcely beoverdone. When any man came to protest or to use influence on Bobby inhis fight, Bobby took the bull by the horns, called for Jolter, whowas a mine of information upon local affairs, and promptly found outthe reason for that man's interest; whereupon he either warned him offor attacked him, and made an average of ten good, healthy enemies aday. He scared Adam Winthrop out of the political race entirely, hemade the Allstynes tear down their fire-traps and erect better-payingand consequently more desirable tenements, and he had De Graff and theother involved bankers "staggering in circles and hoarsely barking, "as "Bugs" Roach put it. 

So far, Bobby had been subjected to no personal annoyances, but on theday after his first attack on the chief of police he began to bearrested for breaking the speed laws, and fined the limit, even thoughhe drove his car but eight miles an hour, while his news carriers andhis employees were "pinched" upon the most trivial pretexts. Libelsuits were brought wherever a merchant or an official had a recordclear enough to risk such procedure, and three of these suits weredecided against him; whereupon Bobby, finding the money chain whichbound certain of the judges to Sam Stone, promptly attacked thesemembers of the judiciary and appealed his cases. 

His very name became a red rag to every member of Stone's crowd; butup to this point no violence had been offered him. One night, however, as he was driving his own car homeward, men on the watch for himstepped out of an alley mouth two blocks above the Burnit residenceand strewed the street thickly with sharp-pointed coil springs. One ofthese caught a tire, and Bobby, always on the alert for the first signof such accidents, brought his car to a sudden stop, reached down forhis tire-wrench and jumped out. Just as he stooped over to examine thetire, some instinct warned him, and he turned quickly to find threemen coming upon him from the alley, the nearest one with an upliftedslung-shot. It was with just a glance from the corner of his eye as heturned that Bobby caught the import of the figure towering above him, and then his fine athletic training came in good stead. With asidewise spring he was out of the sphere of that descending blow, and, swinging with his heavy wrench, caught the fellow a smash upon thetemple which laid him unconscious. Before the two other men had timeto think, he was upon them and gave one a broken shoulder-blade. Theother escaped. There had been no word from any of the three men whichmight lead to an explanation of this attack, but Bobby needed noexplanation; he divined at once the source from which it came, and inthe morning he sent for Biff Bates. 

"Biff, " said he, "I spoke once about securing some thugs to act as acounter-irritant against Stone, but I have neglected it. How long willit take to get hold of some?"

"Ten minutes, if I wait till dark, " replied Biff. "I can go down tothe Blue Star, and for ten iron men apiece can get you as fine a bunchof yeggs as ever beat out a cripple's brains with his own wooden leg. "

Bobby smiled. 

"I don't want them to go quite that far, " he objected. "Are they menyou can depend upon not to sell out to Stone?"

"Just one way, " replied Biff. "The choice line of murderers that hangout down around the levee are half of them sore on Stone, anyhow; butthey're afraid of him, and the only way you can use them is to give'em enough to get 'em out of town. For ten a throw you can buy thembody and soul. "

"I'll take about four, to start on duty to-night, and stay on dutytill they accomplish what I want done, " and Bobby detailed his plan toBiff. 

Stone had one peculiarity. Knowing that he had enemies, and thoseamong the most reckless class in the world, he seldom allowed himselfto be caught alone; but every night he held counsel with some of hisfollowers at a certain respectable beer-garden where, in thesummer-time, a long table in a quiet, half-screened corner wasreserved for him and his followers, and in the winter a back room wasgiven up for the same purpose. Here Stone transacted all the realbusiness of his local organization, drinking beer, revivingstrange-looking callers, and confining his own remarks to a gruntedyes or no, or a brief direction. Every night at about nine-thirty herose, yawned, and, unattended, walked back through the beer-garden tothe alley, where he stood for some five minutes. This was his retreatfor uninterrupted thought, and when he came back from it he had theday's developments summed up and the necessary course of actionresolved upon. 

On the second night after the attempted assault upon Bobby he had nosooner closed the alley door behind him than a man sprang upon himfrom either side, a heavy hand was placed over his mouth, and he wasdragged to the ground, where a third brawny thug straddled his chestand showed him a long knife. 

"See it?" demanded the man as he passed the blade before Stone's eyes. "It's hungry. You let 'em clip my brother in stir for a three-stretchwhen you could have saved him with a grunt, and if I wasn't workin'under orders, in half an hour they'd have you on slab six with icepacked around you and a sheet over you. But we're under orders. We'repart of the reform committee, we are, " and all three of them laughedsilently, "and there's a string of us longer than the Christmasbread-line, all crazy for a piece of this getaway coin. And here's thelittle message I got to give you. This time you're to go free. Nexttime you're to have your head beat off. This thuggin' of peaceablecitizens has got to be stopped; see?"

A low whistle from a man stationed at the mouth of the alleyinterrupted the speech which the man with the knife was enjoying somuch, and he sprang from the chest of Stone, who had been strugglingvainly all this time. As the man sprang up and started to run, hesuddenly whirled and gave Stone a vicious kick upon the hip, and asStone rose, another man kicked him in the ribs. All three of them ran, and Stone, scrambling to his feet with difficulty, whipped hisrevolver from his pocket and snapped it. Long disused, however, thetrigger stuck, but he took after them on foot in spite of the pain ofthe two fearful kicks that he had received. Instead of dartingstraight out of the alley, the men turned in at a small gate at theside of a narrow building on the corner, and slammed the gate behindthem. He could hear the drop of the wooden bolt. He knew perfectlythat entrance. It was to the littered back yard of a cheap saloon, atthe side of which ran a narrow passageway to the street beyond, wherestreet-cars passed every half-minute. 

Just as he came furiously up to the gate a policeman darted in at thealley mouth, and, catching the glint of Stone's revolver, whipped hisown. He ran quite fearlessly to Stone, and with a dextrous blow uponthe wrist sent the revolver spinning. 

"You're under arrest, " said he. 

For just one second he covered his man, then his arm dropped and hisjaw opened in astonishment. 

"Why, it's Stone!" he exclaimed. 

"Yes, damn you, it's Stone!" screamed the Boss, livid with fury, andovercome with anger he dealt the policeman a staggering blow in theface. "You damned flat-foot, I'll teach you to notice who you put yourhands on! Give me that badge!"

White-faced and with trembling fingers, and with a trickle of bloodstarting slowly from a cut upon his cheek, the man unfastened hisbadge. 

"Now, go back to Cooley and tell him I broke you, " Stone ordered, andturned on his heel. 

By the time he reached the back door of the beer-garden he was limpingmost painfully, but when he rejoined his crowd he said nothing of theincident. In the brief time that it had taken him to go from the alleymouth to that table he had divined the significance of the wholething. For the first time in his career he knew himself to be asystematically marked man, as he had systematically marked others; andhe was not beyond reason. Thereafter, Bobby Burnit was in no morejeopardy from hired thugs, and for a solid year he kept up his fight, with plenty of material to last him for still another twelvemonth. Itwas a year which improved him in many ways, but Aunt ConstanceElliston objected to the improvement. 

"Bobby, they _are_ spoiling you, " she complained. "They're taking yoursuavity away from you, and you're acquiring grim, hard lines aroundyour mouth. "

"They're making him, " declared Agnes, looking fondly across at thefirm face and into the clear, unwavering eyes. 

Bobby answered the look of Agnes with one that needed no words tointerpret, and laughed at Aunt Constance. 

"I suppose they are spoiling me, " he confessed, "and I'm glad of it. I'm glad, above all, that I'm losing the sort of suavity which led meto smile and tell a man politely to take it, when he reached his handinto my pocket for my money. "

"You'll do, " agreed Uncle Dan. "When you took hold of the _Bulletin_, your best friends only gave you two months, But are you making anymoney?"

Bobby's face clouded. 

"Spending it like water. We have practically no advertising, and alarger circulation than I want. We lose money on every copy of thepaper that we sell. "

Uncle Dan shook his head. 

"Is there a chance that you will ever get it back?" he asked. 

"Bobby's so used to failure that he doesn't mind, " interjected AuntConstance. 

"Mind!" exclaimed Bobby. "I never minded it so much in my life as I donow. The _Bulletin_ must win. I'm bound that it shall win! If we comeout ahead in our fight against Stone I'll get all my advertising back, and I'll keep my circulation, which makes advertising rates. "

The telephone bell rang in the study adjoining the dining-room, andBobby, who had been more or less distrait all evening, half rose fromhis chair. In a moment more the maid informed them that the call wasfor Mr. Burnit. In the study they could hear his voice, excited andexultant. He returned as delighted as a school-boy. 

"Now I can tell you something, " he announced. "Within five minutes the_Bulletin_ will have exclusive extras on the street, announcing thatthe legislature has just appointed a committee to investigatemunicipal affairs throughout the state. That means this town. I havespent ten thousand dollars in lobbying that measure through, andcharged it all to improvements' on the _Bulletin_. Sounds like I hadjoined the ranks of the 'boodlers, ' don't it? Well, I don't give acooky for ethics so long as I know I'm right. I'd have been a simp, asBiff Bates calls it, to go among that crowd of hungry law jugglerswith kind words and the ten commandments. I'm not using crossbowsagainst cannon, and as a result I'm winning. I got my measure through, and now I think we'll put Stone and his crew of freebooters on thegrill, with some extra-hot coals for my friend De Graff and the othersaintly sinners who have been playing into Stone's hands. I have beenworking a year for this, and the entire politics of this town, withwide-reaching results in the state, is disrupted. "

"You selfish boy, " chided Aunt Constance. "You have been here with usfor more than an hour, expecting this all the time, and have notbreathed one word of it to us. Don't you trust anybody any more?"

"Oh, yes, " replied Bobby easily; "but only when it is necessary. "

Agnes smiled across at him in calm content. She had but very little tosay now. She was in that blissful happiness that comes to any womanwhen the man most in her mind is reaping his meed of success from along and hard-fought battle. 

"Spoken like your father, Bobby, " laughed Uncle Dan. "You're coming tolook more and more like him every day. You talk like him and act likehim. You have the same snap of your jaws. Your father, however, neverdabbled in politics. He always despised it, and I see you're bound tobe knee-deep in it. "

"My father would have succeeded in politics, " said Bobby confidently, "as he succeeded in everything else, after he once got started. I havehis confession in writing, however, that he made a few fool mistakeshimself along at first. As for politics, I _am_ in it knee-deep, andI'm going to elect my own slate next fall. "

"Another reform party, of course, " suggested Uncle Dan with a smile. 

"Not for Bobby, " replied that decided young gentleman. "I am formingan affiliation with Cal Lewis. "

"Cal Lewis!" exclaimed Uncle Dan aghast. Then he closed his eyes andlaughed softly. "As notorious in his way as Sam Stone himself. Why, Bobby, that's fighting fire with gasolene. "

"It's setting a thief to catch a thief. You must remember that forfifteen years Cal hasn't had any of the pie except in a minor way, andall this time he's been fighting Stone tooth and toe-nail. The latereform movement, which failed so lamentably to carry out its gaudypromises after it had won, left him entirely out of its calculations, and Lewis actually joined with Stone in overturning it. I propose touse Lewis' knowledge of political machinery, but in my own way. As amatter of fact, I have already engaged him and put him on salary; agood, stiff one, too. His business is to organize my politicalmachine. I'm going to have a slate of clean men, who will not onlyconduct the business of this county and city with probity but withdiscretion, and I do not mind telling you that my candidate for mayoris Chalmers. "

Agnes gave a little cry of delight, and even Aunt Constance clappedher hands lightly, for Chalmers, a young lawyer of excellent socialconnections, was a prime favorite with the Ellistons, and in thebusiness he had transacted for the Burnit estate Bobby had found inhim sterling qualities. 

"Chalmers is a good man, " agreed Uncle Dan, "though he is young, andpractically without political influence; but, if you can make himmayor, I predict a brilliant political future for him. "

"He will have it, " said Bobby confidently, "for I intend to make himthe attorney for the investigating committee, and through his work Iexpect to have not less than a hundred thousand dollars of stolenmoney turned back into the city and county treasuries. "

As Bobby announced this he rose mechanically, and, still absorbed inthe details of his big fight, walked out into the hall. It was notuntil he had his coat on and his hat in his hand that he came tohimself; and with the deepest confusion found that he had been aboutto walk out without making any adieus whatever. 

"Why, where are you going?" inquired Agnes, as he came back into thedrawing-room. 

He laughed sheepishly. 

"Why, " he explained, "ever since I received that telephone message Ihave been seeing before me the _Bulletin_ extra that they are throwingon the street right now, and I forgot everything else. I'll simplyhave to go down and hold a copy of it in my hands. "

"You're just a big boy, " laughed Aunt Constance. "Will you ever growup?"

"I hope not, " declared Agnes, and taking his arm she strolled with himto the door in perfect peace and confidence. 

CHAPTER XXVI

MR. STONE LEAVES BOBBY A PARTING COMMISSION AND A LEFT-HANDED BLESSING

It looked good to Bobby, that late extra of the _Bulletin_, and theforce that he had kept on duty to get it out greeted him, as he walkedthrough the office, with a running fire of comment and congratulationthat was almost like applause. He had bought a copy on the street ashe came in, and as he spread it out there came upon him a thrill ofrealization that this ought to be the beginning of the end. 

It was. The fact that Bobby, through the _Bulletin_, had forced thisaction, made him a power to be reckoned with; and straws, whole balesof them, began to show which way the wind was blowing. 

One morning a delegation headed by the Reverend Doctor Larynx waitedupon him. The Reverend Doctor was a minister of great ingenuity andforce, who sought the salvation of souls through such vital topics asShall Men Go Coatless in Summer? The Justice of Three-Cent Car Fares, and The Billboards Must Go. All public questions, civic, state ornational, were thoroughly thrashed out in the pulpit of the ReverendLarynx, and turned adrift with the seal of his condemnation orapproval duly fixed upon them; and he managed to get his name andpicture in the papers almost as often as the man who took eighty-sevenbottles of Elixo and still survived. With him were four thoroughlyrespectable men of business, two of whom wore side-whiskers and theother two of whom wore white bow-ties. 

"Fine business, Mr. Burnit, " said the Reverend Doctor Larynx in aloud, hearty voice, advancing with three strides and clasping Bobby'shand in a vise-like grip; for he was a red-blooded minister, was theReverend Doctor Larynx, and he believed in getting down among the"pee-pul. " "The _Bulletin_ has proved itself a mighty fine engine ofreform, and the reputable citizens of this municipality now see a rayof hope before them. "

"I'm afraid that the reputable citizens, " ventured Bobby, "have no onebut themselves to blame for their past hopeless condition. They're tooselfish to vote. "

"You have hit the nail on the head, " declaimed the Reverend Larynxwith a loud, hearty laugh, "but the _Bulletin_ will rouse them to asense of duty. Last night, Mr. Burnit, the Utopian Club was formedwith an initial membership of over seventy, and it selected acandidate for mayor of whom the _Bulletin_ is bound to approve. Shakehands with Mr. Freedom, the Utopian Club's candidate for mayor, Mr. Burnit. "

Bobby shook hands with Mr. Freedom quite nicely, and studied himcuriously. 

He was one of the two who wore side-whiskers and a habitual PrinceAlbert, and he displayed a phenomenal length from lower lip to chin, which, by reason of his extremely high and narrow forehead, gave hisfeatures the appearance of being grouped in tiny spots somewhere nearthe center of a long, yellow cylinder. Mr. Freedom, he afterwardascertained, was a respectable singing-teacher. 

"Professor Freedom, " went on the Reverend Doctor Larynx, still loudlyand heartily, "has the time to devote to this office, as well as theideal qualifications. He has no vices whatever. He does not even smokenor use tobacco in any form, and under his régime the saloons of thistown would be turned into vacant store-rooms, if there are laws tomake possible such action. "

"I do not want the saloons put out of business, " declared Bobby. "Imerely want them vacated at twelve every night, without exception. "

When Doctor Larynx and his delegation went away in wrath the leaderwas already preparing his sermon upon The Iniquity of the Sons of RichFathers. 

On the following day a delegation from the business men's club waitedupon him. The business men's club wanted a business administration. This crowd Bobby handled differently. Upon his desk, tabulated inadvance against just such an emergency, he had statistics concerningall the business men's administrations that had been tried in variouscities, and he submitted this statement without argument. It needednone. 

"Politics is in itself a distinct business, " he explained. "You wouldnot one of you take up the duties of a surveyor without previoustraining. The only trouble is that there are no restrictions placedupon politicians. I propose to use them, but to regulate them. "

He did not convert the delegation by this one interview, but he did bycultivating these men and others of their kind separately. He ateluncheons and dinners with them at the Traders' Club, played billiardswith them, smoked and talked with them; and the burden of his talk wasChalmers. When he finally got ready for his campaign the business menwere with him unanimously, at least outwardly. Inwardly, there werereservations, for the matter of special privileges was one to be verygravely considered; and special privileges, at a price not entirelyprohibitive, was the bulwark of Stone's régime. 

"But the Stone régime, " Bobby advised them, coming brutally to thepoint and telling them what he knew of their own affairs and Stone's, "is about to come to an end. The handwriting is on the wall, and youmight just as well climb into the band wagon, for at last I have thepublic on my side. "

At last he had. For a solid year he had been trying to understand thepeculiar apathy of the public, and he did not understand it yet. Theyseemed to like Stone and to look upon his wholesale corruption as ajoke; but by constant hammering, by showing the unredeemablecussedness of Stone and his crowd, he had produced some impression--animpression that, alas! was of the surface only--until theinvestigating committee began its sessions. When it became understood, however, that certain of the thieves might actually be sent to thepenitentiary, then who so loud in their denunciation as the public?Why, Stone had robbed them right and left; why, Stone was an enemy tomankind; why, Stone and all his friends were monsters whom it were agood and a holy thing to skewer and flay and cast into everlastingbrimstone!

Facts were uncovered that set the entire city in turmoil. More thanfifty men who had never been born had been carried upon the city andcounty pay-rolls, and half of their salaries went directly intoStone's pocket, the other half going to the men who conducted thispaying enterprise. Contracts for city paving and other improvementswere let to favored bidders at an enormous figure, and Stonepersonally had one-fourth of the huge profits on "scamped" work, another fourth going to those who arranged the details and did thecollecting. Innumerable instances of this sort were brought out; butthe biggest scandal of all, in that it involved men who should havebeen unassailable, was that of the banks. The relentless probe broughtout the fact that all city and county funds had been distributed amongfour banks, the deposits yielding no revenue whatever to eithercommonwealth. These funds, however, had paid privately two per cent. Interest, and this interest was paid in cash, in sealed envelopes, tothe city and county auditors and treasurers, who took the envelopesunbroken to Stone for distribution. The amounts thus diverted from theproper channels totaled to an enormous figure, and, as this money wasthe most direct and approachable, Chalmers, who had the interestingrôle of inquisitor, set out to get it. The officials who had beenlongest at the crib, grown incautious were now men of property, and bythe use of red-hot pincers Chalmers was able to restore nearly sixtythousand dollars of stolen money, with the possibility of more insight. 

It was upon the heels of this that Chalmers' candidacy for mayor wasannounced, and the manner in which the Stone machine dropped to pieceswas laughable. Chalmers, and the entire slate so carefully prepared byBobby in conjunction with the shrewd old fox, Cal Lewis, won by amajority so overwhelming as to be almost unanimous. Immediately uponChalmers' election heads began to drop, and the first to go wasCooley, chief of police, in whom, four years later, Bobby recognizedthe driver of his ice wagon. Coincident with the election camewell-founded rumors of grand jury indictments. Two of Stone's closestand busiest lieutenants, who were most in danger of being presentedwith nice new suits of striped clothing, quietly converted theirentire property into cash and then just as quietly slipped away toHonduras. 

Late one afternoon, as Bobby sat alone in his room in the almostdeserted _Bulletin_ building, so worried over his business affairsthat he had no time for elation over his political and personaltriumphs, the door opened and Stone stood before him. The pouchesunder Stone's eyes were heavier and darker, his cheeks droopedflabbily and he seemed to have fallen away inside his clothes, butupon his face there sat the same stern impassiveness. Bobby instantlyrose, having good cause to want to be well planted upon his feet withthis man near him. Stone carefully closed the door behind him andadvanced to the other side of Bobby's desk. 

"Well, you win, " he said huskily. 

Bobby drew a long breath. 

"It has cost me a lot of money, Mr. Stone. It has left me almost flatbroke--but I got you. "

"I give you credit, " admitted Stone. "I didn't think anybody could doit, least of all a kid; but you got me and you got me good. It's beena hard fight for all of us, I guess. I'm a little run down, " and hehesitated curiously; "my doctor says I got to take an ocean trip. " Hesuddenly blazed out: "Damn it, you might as well be told! I'm runningaway!"

Bobby found himself silent. For two years he had planned and hoped forthis moment of victory. Now that the exultant moment had come he foundhimself feeling strangely sorry for this big man, in spite of hisunutterable rascality. 

"I ain't coming back, " Stone went on after a pause, "and there'ssomething I want to ask you to do for me. "

"I should be glad to do it, Mr. Stone, if it is anything I can allowmyself to do. "

"Aw, cut it!" growled Stone. "Look here. I got a list of some poormutts I been looking out for, and I've just set aside a wad to keep itgoing. I want you to look after 'em and see that the money gets spreadaround right. I know you're square. I don't know anybody else to giveit to. "

To Bobby he handed a list of some fifty names and addresses, withmonthly amounts set down opposite them. They were widows and orphansand helpless creatures of all sorts and conditions, blind and deaf andcrippled, whom Stone, in the great passion that every man has for someone to love and revere him, and in the secret tenderness inseparablefrom all big natures, had made his pensioners. 

"There ain't a soul on earth knows about these but me, and every oneof 'em is wise to it that if they ever blat a word about it the pap'scut off. I don't want a thing, not even a hint, printed aboutthis--see? I ain't afraid that you'll use it in the paper after measking you not to, so I don't ask you for any promise. "

"I'll do it with pleasure, " offered Bobby. 

"Well, I guess that's about all, " said Stone, and turned to go. 

Bobby came from behind his desk. 

"After all, Stone, " he said, with some hesitation, "I'm sorry to losean enemy so worth while. I wish you good luck wherever you are going, "and he held out his hand. 

Stone looked at the proffered hand and shook his head. 

"I'd rather smash your face, " he growled, and passed out of the door. 

It was the last that Bobby ever saw of him, and all that the_Bulletin_ carried about his flight was the "fact, " not at all tooprominently displayed for the man's importance as a public figure, that Stone's health was in jeopardy and that he was about to take anocean voyage upon the advice of his physician; and on that day Stone'spicture disappeared from the place it had occupied upon the front pageof the _Bulletin_. 

It was a victory complete and final, but it was not without its sting, for on that same day Bobby faced an empty exchequer. It was Johnsonwho brought him the sad but not at all unexpected tidings, at a momentwhen Chalmers and Agnes happened to be in the office. Seeing them, Johnson hesitated at the door. 

"What is it, Johnson?" asked Bobby. 

"Oh, nothing much, " said Mr. Johnson with a pained expression. "I'llcome back again. "

He had a sheet of paper with him and Bobby held out his hand for it. Still hesitating, old Johnson brought it forward and laid it down onBobby's desk. 

"You know you told me, sir, to bring this to you. "

Had the others not been present he would have added the reminder thathe had been instructed to bring this statement a week in advance ofthe time when Bobby should no longer be able to meet his payroll. Bobby looked up from the statement without any thought of reservebefore these three. 

"Well, it's come. I'm broke. "

"Not so much a calamity in this instance as it has been in others, "said Agnes sagely. "Fortunately, your trustee is right here, and yourtrustee's lawyer, who has two hundred and fifty thousand dollars stillto your account. "

Bobby listened in frowning silence, and old Johnson, who had preparedhimself before he came upstairs for such a contingency, quietly laidupon Bobby's desk one of the familiar gray envelopes and withdrew. Itwas inscribed:

 _To My Son Robert, Upon the Turning Over to Him of His Sixth and Last Experimental Fund_

 "If a man fails six times he'd better be pensioned and left to live a life of pleasant ease; for everybody has a right to be happy, and not all can gain happiness through their own efforts. So, if you fail this last time, don't worry, my boy, but take measures to cut your garment according to the income from a million and a half dollars, invested so safely that it can yield you but two per cent. If the fault of your ill success lies with anybody it lies with me, and I blame myself bitterly for it many times as I write this letter. 

 "Remember, first, last and always, that I want you to be happy. "

Bobby passed the letter to Agnes and the envelope to Chalmers. 

"This is a little premature, " he said, smiling at both of them, "forI'm not applying for the sixth portion. "

Agnes looked up at him in surprise. 

"Not applying for it?"

"No, " he declared, "I don't want it. I understand there is a provisionthat I can not use two of these portions in the same business. "

Both Chalmers and Agnes nodded. 

"I don't want money for any other business than the _Bulletin_, "declared Bobby, "and if my father has it fixed so that he won't helpme as I want to be helped, I don't want it at all. "

"There is another provision about which you perhaps don't know, "Chalmers informed him; "if you refuse this money it reverts to themain fund. "

Bobby studied this over thoughtfully. 

"Let it revert, " said he. "I'll sink or swim right here. "

The next day he went to his bank and tried to borrow money. They likedBobby very much indeed over at the bank. He was a vigorous young man, a young man of affairs, a young man who had won a great publicvictory, a young man whom it was generally admitted had done the cityan incalculable amount of good; but they could not accept Bobby northe _Bulletin_ as a business proposition. Had they not seen theoriginal fund dwindle and dwindle for two years until now there wasnothing left? Wouldn't another fund dwindle likewise? It is no part ofa bank's desire to foreclose upon securities. They are quite wellsatisfied with just the plain interest. Moreover, the _Bulletin_wasn't such heavy security, anyhow. 

Bobby tried another bank with like results, and also some of his firmbusiness friends at the Traders' Club. In the midst of his dilemmaPresident De Graff of the First National came to him. 

"I understand you have been trying to borrow some money, Burnit?"

It sounded to Bobby as if De Graff had come to gloat over him, sincehe had been instrumental in dragging De Graff and the First Nationalthrough the mire. 

"Yes, sir, I have, " he nevertheless answered steadily. 

"Why didn't you come to us?" demanded De Graff. 

"To you?" said Bobby, amazed. "I never thought of you in thatconnection at all, De Graff, after all that has happened. "

De Graff shrugged his shoulders. 

"That was like pulling a tooth. It hurt and one dreaded it, but it wasso much better when it was out. Until you jumped into the fight Stonehad me under his thumb. The minute the exposure came he had no furtherhold on me. It is the only questionable thing I ever did in my life, and I'm glad it was exposed. I admire you for it, even though it willhurt me in a business way for a long time to come. But about thismoney now. How much do you need at the present time?"

"I'd like an account of about twenty-five thousand. "

"I can let you have it at once, " said De Graff, "and as much more asyou need, up to a certain reasonable point that I think will be amplysufficient. "

"Is this Stone's money?" asked Bobby with sudden suspicion. 

De Graff smiled. 

"No, " said he, "it is my own. I have faith in you, Burnit, and faithin the _Bulletin_. Suppose you step over to the First National with meright away. "

CHAPTER XXVII

AUNT CONSTANCE ELLISTON LOSES ALL HER PATIENCE WITH A CERTAIN PROSAICCOURTSHIP

That night, with a grave new responsibility upon him and a grave newelation, sturdier and stronger than he had ever been in his life, andmore his own master, Bobby went out to see Agnes. 

"Agnes, when my father made you my trustee, " he said, "he laid uponyou the obligation that you were not to marry me until I had provedmyself either a success or a failure, didn't he?"

"He did, " assented Agnes demurely. 

"But you are no longer my trustee. The last money over which you hadnominal control has reverted to the main fund, which is in the handsof Mr. Barrister; so that releases you. "

Agnes laughed softly and shook her head. 

"The obligation wasn't part of the trusteeship, " she reminded him. 

"But if I choose to construe it that way, " he persisted, "and declarethe obligation null and void, how soon could you get ready to bemarried to the political boss of this town and one of its leadingbusiness men? Agnes, " he went on, suddenly quite serious, "I can notdo without you any longer. I have waited long enough. I need you andyou must come to me. "

"I'll come if you insist, " she said simply, and laid both her hands inhis. "But, Bobby, let's think about this a minute. Let's think what itmeans. I have been thinking of it many, many days, and really andtruly I don't like to give up, because of its bearing upon our futurestrength. Yesterday I drove down Grand Street and looked up at thatTrimmer and Company sign, and so long as that is there, Bobby, I couldnot feel right about our deserting the colors, as it were; that is, unless you have definitely given up the fight. "

"Given up!" repeated Bobby quickly. "Why, I have just begun. I've beento school all this time, Agnes, and to a hard school, but now I'm sureI have learned my lesson. I have won a fight or two; I have had thetaste of blood; I'm going after more; I'm going to win. "

"I'm sure that you will, " she repeated. "Think how much bettersatisfied we will be after you have done so. "

"Yes, but think, too, of the time it will take, " he protested. "Firstof all I must earn money; that is, I must make the _Bulletin_ pay. Ican do that. It is on the edge of earning its way right now, but I owetwenty-five thousand dollars. It is going to take a long, long timefor me to win this battle, and in it I need you. "

"I am always right here, Bobby, " she reminded him. "I have neverfailed you when you needed me, have I? But maybe it won't take solong. You say you are going to make the _Bulletin_ pay. If you do thatcounts for a business success, enough to release you on that side. Butreally, Bobby, how difficult a task would it be to get back control ofyour father's store?"

"Hopeless, just now, " said he. 

"How much money would it take?"

"Well, not so very much in comparison with the business itself, " hetold her. "I own two hundred and sixty thousand dollars' worth ofstock, Trimmer owns two hundred and forty thousand, while sixtythousand more are scattered among his relatives and dependents. Thatstock is not for sale, that is the trouble; but if I could buytwenty-one thousand dollars of it I could do what I liked with theentire concern. "

"Then Bobby, let's not think of anything else but how to get thatstock. Let's insist on having that for our wedding present. "

Bobby regarded her gravely for a long time. 

"Agnes, you're a brick!" he finally concluded. "You're right, as youhave always been. We'll wait. But you don't know, oh, you don't knowhow hard that is for me!"

"It is not the easiest thing in the world for me, " she gently remindedhim. 

From the time that she had laid her hands in his he had held them, andnow he had gathered them to him, pressing them upon his breast. Suddenly, overcome by his great longing for her, he clasped her in hisarms and held her, and pressed his lips to hers. For a moment sheyielded to that embrace and closed her eyes, and then she gently drewaway from him. 

"We mustn't indulge in that sort of thing very much, " she remindedhim, "or we're likely to lose all our good resolutions. "

"Good resolutions, " declared Bobby, "are a nuisance. "

She smiled and shook her head. 

"Look at the people who haven't any, " she reminded him. 

It was perhaps half an hour later when an idea which brought with it asmile came to her. 

"We've definitely resolved now to wait until you have eitheraccomplished what you set out to do, or completely failed, haven'twe?"

"Yes, " he assented soberly. 

"Then I'm going to open one of the letters your father left for us. Ihave been dying with curiosity to know what is in it, " and hurrying upto her secretary she brought down one of the inevitable grayenvelopes, addressed:

 _To My Children Upon the Occasion of Their Deciding to Marry Before the Limit of My Prohibition_

 "What I can not for the life of me understand is why the devil you didn't do it long ago!"

Bobby was so thoroughly awake to the underlying principle of Agnes'contention that even this letter did nothing to change his viewpoint. 

"For it isn't him, it is us, or rather it is me, who is to beconsidered, " he declared. "But it does seem to me, Agnes, as if foronce we had got the better of the governor. "

They were still laughing over the unexpectedness of the letter whenAunt Constance came in, and they showed it to her. 

"Good!" she exclaimed, dwelling longer upon the inscription than uponthe letter itself. "I think you're quite sensible, and I'll arrangethe finest wedding for Agnes that has ever occurred in the Ellistonfamily. You must give me at least a couple of months, though. When isit to come off? Soon, I suppose?"

Carefully and patiently they explained the stand they had taken. Atfirst she thought they were joking, and it took considerablereiteration on their part for her to understand that they were not. 

"I declare I have no patience with you!" she avowed. "Of all thehumdrum, prosaic people I ever saw, you are the very worst! There isno romance in you. You're as cool about it as if marriage were acommercial partnership. Oh, Dan!" and she called her husband from thelibrary. "Now what do you think of this?" she demanded, and explainedthe ridiculous attitude of the young people. 

"Great!" decided Uncle Dan. "Allow me to congratulate you, " and heshook hands heartily with both Agnes and Bobby, whereat Aunt Constancedenounced him as being a sordid soul of their own stripe and went tobed in a huff. She got up again, however, when she heard Agnes retireto her own room for the night, and came in to wrestle with that younglady in spirit. She found Agnes, however, obdurate in her content, andended by becoming an enthusiastic supporter of the idea. "Although Idid have my heart so set on a fine wedding, " she plaintivelyconcluded. "I have been planning it for ages. "

"Just keep on planning, auntie, " replied Agnes. "No doubt you willacquire some brilliant new ideas before the time comes. "

So this utterly placid courtship went on in its old tranquil way, withBobby a constant two and three nights a week visitor to the Ellistonhome, and with the two young people discussing business morefrequently than anything else; for Bobby had learned to come to Agnesfor counsel in everything. Just now his chief burden of conversationwas the letting of the new waterworks contract, which, with publicsentiment back of him, he had fought off until after the Stoneadministration had ended. Hamilton Ferris, an old polo antagonist ofhis, represented one of the competing firms as its president, andBobby had been most anxious that he should be the successful bidder, as was Agnes; for Bobby had brought Ferris to dinner at the Ellistonsand to call a couple of times during his stay in the city, and all ofthe Ellistons liked him tremendously. Bobby was quite crestfallen whenthe opening of the bids proved Ferris to be the second lowest man. 

"I've tried hard enough for it, " declared Ferris during a final dinnerat the Ellistons that night. "There isn't much doing this year, and Ifigured closer than anybody in my employ would dared to have done. Inview of my estimate I can not for the life of me see how your localcompany overbid us all by over a million dollars. "

"It is curious, " admitted Bobby, still much puzzled. 

"It's rather unsportsmanlike in me to whine, " resumed Ferris, "but Iam bound to believe that there is a colored gentleman in the woodpilesomewhere. "

"That would be no novelty, " returned Bobby. "Ever since I bought the_Bulletin_ I have been gunning for Ethiopians amid the fuel and alwaysfound them. The Middle West Construction Company, however, is a newload of kindling to me. I never heard of it until it was announcedthis morning as the lowest bidder. "

"Nobody ever heard of it, " asserted Ferris. "It was no doubt organizedfor the sole purpose of bidding on this job. Probably when you delveinto the matter you will discover the fine Italian hand of yourpolitical boss. "

"Hardly, " chuckled Uncle Dan, indulging in his recent propensity tobrag on Bobby. "Our local boss was Sam Stone, and Bobby has justsucceeded in running him and two of his expert wire workers out of thecountry. "

"If anybody here is the political boss it is Bobby, " observed Agnes, laughing. 

"I'm sorry to have to suspect him, " laughed Ferris. "Well, there is nouse crying over spilled milk; but I had hoped to bring Mrs. Ferris outfor a good long visit. "

"Give your wife my regards, Mr. Ferris, and tell her she must comeanyhow, " insisted Mrs. Elliston. "Since I have heard that you marriedthe daughter of my old schoolmate, I have been wanting the KeystoneConstruction Company to have a big contract here more than you have, Ithink. "

"Sounds very nice, Constance, " said her husband dryly, "but I doubt ifany woman ever wanted to see the daughter of her old schoolmate asbadly as any man ever wanted to make a million dollars. Bobby, I'llmake you a small bet. I'll bet your new construction company iscomposed of the shattered fragments of the old Stone crowd. I'll evenbet that Silas Trimmer is in it. "

"If he is, " suddenly declared Agnes, "I'm going to go into thedetective business, " whereat Uncle Dan enjoyed himself hugely. Hervindictiveness whenever the name of Silas Trimmer was mentioned hadbecome highly amusing to him, in spite of the fact that he admired herfor it. 

"Go right ahead, " said Bobby approvingly. "If you find anything thatwill enable me to give that gentleman a financial backset I'll seethat you get a handsome reward. In the meantime I'm going to find outsomething about the Middle West Construction Company myself. "

Accordingly he asked his managing editor about that concern the firstthing in the morning. 

Ben Jolter lit his old pipe, folded his bare arms and patted themalternately in speculative enjoyment. 

"I have something like two pages of information about them, if wecould use it, " he announced. "I have been getting reports from theentire scouting brigade ever since the contract was let yesterday, andyou may now prepare for a shock. The largest stock-holders of theconcern are Silas Trimmer and Frank Sharpe, and the minorstock-holders, almost to a man, consist of those who had their littlecrack at the public crib under your old, time-tried and true friend, Sam Stone. "

"I admit that I am properly shocked, " responded Bobby. 

"It hinges together beautifully, " Jolter went on. "The wholewaterworks project was a Stone scheme, and Stone people--even thoughStone himself is wiped out--secure the contract. The last expiring actof the Stone administration was to employ Ed Scales as chief engineeruntil the completion of the waterworks, which may occupy eight or tenyears, and the contract with Scales is binding on the city unless hecan be impeached for cause. Scales was city engineer under theprevious reform spasm, but Stone probably found him good material andkept him on. The waterworks plans were prepared under his supervisionand he got them ready for bidding. Now what's the answer?"

"Easy, " returned Bobby. "The city loses. "

"Right, " agreed Jolter; "but how? I don't see that we can do anything. Scales, having prepared the plans, is the logical man to see that theyare carried out, and he is perfectly competent. His record is clean, so that he owns no property, nor does any of his family--although thatmay be because he never had a chance. The Middle West ConstructionCompany, though just incorporated, is financially sound, thoroughlybonded, and, moreover, has put into the hands of the city ampleguarantee for its twenty per cent. Forfeit as required by the terms ofthe contract. There isn't a thing that the _Bulletin_ can do except toboost local enterprise with a bit of reservation, then lay low andwait for developments. "

"I dislike to do it, " objected Bobby. "It hurts me to think ofmentioning Stone or Trimmer in any complimentary way whatsoever. "

Jolter laughed. "You're a fine and consistent enemy, " he said. 

"I guess I came by it honestly, " smiled Bobby, and from a drawer inhis desk took one of the gray John Burnit letters. 

"'Always forgive your enemies, '" read Jolter aloud; "'that is, afteryou are good and even with them. '"

"Here goes for them, then, " said Jolter, passing back the letter withan approving chuckle. "We'll let them go right ahead, and in themeantime the _Bulletin_ will do a lot of real nifty old sleuthing. "

But the _Bulletin's_ sleuthing brought nothing wrong to light, andwork upon the big waterworks contract was begun with a rush. 

In the meantime Agnes, true to her threat, was doing someinvestigating on her own account. She renewed her girlhoodacquaintance with Trimmer's daughter, who was now Mrs. ClarenceSmythe, and with others of the Trimmer connection, and she saw thesewomen folk frequently for the sole purpose of gathering up any scrapsof information that might drop. The best she could gather, however, was that Clarence Smythe and Silas Trimmer were no longer upon veryfriendly terms; that Mrs. Smythe had quarreled with her father aboutClarence; also that Clarence's Trimmer and Company stock was in Mrs. Smythe's name. These scraps of information, slight as they were, shereligiously brought to Bobby. When the new waterworks began Agnessaved all the newspaper clippings relating to that tremendousundertaking, and she frequently drove out there of evenings after theworkmen had all gone home; with just what purpose she could not say, but she felt impelled, as she half-sheepishly confessed to her UncleDan, to "keep an eye on the job. " She kept up her absurd surveillancein spite of all Uncle Dan's ridicule, and one evening she came home ina state of quivering excitement. She called up Bobby at once. 

"Bobby, " she wanted to know, "has the city decided to cut downexpenses on the waterworks, or have the plans been changed for anyreason?"

"Not that the public knows about, " replied Bobby. "Why?"

"The pumping station is not so big as the newspapers said it was tobe. It is over thirty feet shorter and over twenty feet narrower. "

"How do you know?" demanded Bobby. 

"I took Wilkins out there with me to-night and had him measure it forme with a yard-stick while the watchman had gone for his supper, "replied Agnes triumphantly. 

Bobby stopped to laugh. 

"Impossible, " said he. "You have measured it wrong or misunderstood itin some way or other. "

"You go out and measure it for yourself, " insisted Agnes. 

Partly to humor her and partly because his interest had been aroused, Bobby went out the next night and measured the pumping station, theexcavation for which was already completed, and to his astonishmentfound that Agnes' measurements were correct. He immediately wrote toFerris about it, told him the present dimensions and asked him uponwhat basis he had figured. In place of replying Ferris came on. Arriving in the city on Saturday, on Sunday he and Bobby went out tothe site, and Ferris examined the new waterworks with a deliberationwhich well-nigh got him into serious trouble with the watchman. 

"Well, young man, your fair city is stung, " declared Ferris. "Thetrenches are not so deep as specified by two feet, and from theirwidth I can tell that the foundation walls are to be at least sixinches thinner. I bid on the best grade of Portland cement for thatjob. It was spelled with a _B_, however, in my copy of thespecification, and I asked your man Scales about it. 'Oh, ' said he, 'that's a misprint in the typewriting, ' and he changed the _B_ to _P_with a lead pencil. Under that shed are about a thousand barrels of_Bortland_ cement. I never heard of that brand, but I can tell cementwhen I see it, and this stuff will have no more adhesive power thanplain mud. Bedford stone was specified. They have several car-loads ofstone dumped down here which is not Bedford stone at all. I could tella piece of Bedford in the dark. This is an inferior rock which willdiscolor in six months and will disintegrate in five years. "

Bobby thought the thing over quietly for some minutes. 

"About the dimensions of the building, Ferris, you might possibly bemistaken, might you not?" asked Bobby. 

"Impossible, " returned Ferris. "I have not figured on many jobs foryears, but our chief estimator had been sent down to Cuba when thisthing came up and I did the work myself, so I have a very vivid memoryof it and can not possibly have it confused with any other bid. Moreover, we have all those things on record in our office and Ilooked it up before I came away. The dimensions of the power house andpumping station were to be one hundred and ninety by one hundred andsixty feet. The present dimensions are one hundred and fifty-eight byone hundred and thirty-three. "

Bobby was thoughtfully silent for a while. 

"Do you remember who else bid on the contract?" he inquired presently. 

"Every one of them, " smiled Ferris. "I can give you their addressesand the names of the people to wire to if that is what you want. Wemeet them on every big job. "

"Do you mind wiring yourself?" asked Bobby. "They would be more apt togive you confidential information. "

"With pleasure, " agreed Ferris, and wrote the telegrams. 

On the following morning Bobby received answers at his office to allbut one of his telegrams, and the information was unanimous that theoriginal plans had called for a building one hundred and ninety by onehundred and sixty feet. 

"Now I begin to understand, " said Ferris. "This was the first set ofimportant plans I ever saw in which the dimensions were not marked, but they were most accurately drawn to scale, one-fourth inch to thefoot. They are probably using the same drawings with an altered scale, although it would be an absurdly clumsy trick. If that is the case itis easy to see how the Middle West Construction Company couldunder-bid us by more than a million dollars and still make more moneythan we figured on. "

Bobby reached for the telephone. 

"Get me the mayor's office, " he called to the girl at his privatetelephone exchange. "Will you 'stick around' to see the fuss?" heinquired with grim pleasure, as he hung up the receiver. 

Ferris grinned as he noted the light of battle dawning in Bobby'seyes. 

"I don't know, " he replied. "It depends on the size and duration ofthe fuss. "

"If you don't stay I'll have you subpoenaed. I may have to, anyhow. As for the size of the fuss, I can promise you a bully one if what yousurmise is correct. "

His telephone bell rang and Bobby turned to it quickly. 

"Hello, Chalmers!" he began, then laughed. "Beg pardon, Agnes; Ithought it was the mayor's office;" he apologized, then listenedintently. There were a few eager queries, and when Bobby hung up thetelephone receiver it was with great satisfaction. "I haven't seen asmuch fun in sight since I began my fight on Stone, " he declared. "MissElliston, who has developed a marvelous new capacity for finding outother men's business secrets through their women folk, has justtelephoned me the results of her last night's detective work. It seemsthat Silas Trimmer, one of the heavy backers of the Middle WestConstruction Company, has just negotiated a loan upon his stock in themercantile establishment of Trimmer and Company, my share of which wasknown as the John Burnit Store until Trimmer beat me out of control. Iunderstand that Trimmer has mortgaged everything to the hilt to gointo this waterworks deal. "

The bell rang again. This time it was Chalmers. 

[Illustration: I'd be tickled black in the face to make good any day]

"Say, Chalmers, " said Bobby, "I want you to get me some sort of alegal document that will allow me to take possession of and examineall the books, papers and drawings of the city engineer's department, including the waterworks engineer's office. .. . Yes, you can, Chalmers, " he insisted, against an obvious protest. "There is somelegal machinery you can put in motion to get it, and I want it rightaway. Moreover, I want you to secure me somebody to serve the writ andto keep it quiet. "

Then he explained briefly what had been partly discovered and partlysurmised. Next Bobby sent for Jolter and laid the facts before him, tothe great joy of that aggressive gentleman. Then he called up BiffBates, and made an appointment with him to meet him at Jimmy Platt'soffice in half an hour. He would have telephoned Platt, but theengineer had no telephone. 

CHAPTER XXVIII

BIFF RENEWS A PLEASANT ACQUAINTANCE AND BOBBY INAUGURATES A TRAGEDY

"Is Mr. Platt in?"

Biff stood hesitantly in the door when he found the place occupiedonly by a brown-haired girl, who was engaged in the quiet, unprofessional occupation of embroidering a shirtwaist pattern. 

The girl looked up with a smile at the young man's awkwardness, andfelt impelled to put him at his ease. 

"He's not in just now, but I expect him within ten or fifteen minutesat the outside. Won't you sit down, Mr. Bates?"

He looked at her much mystified at this calling of his name, but hemumbled his thanks for the chair which she put forward for him, and, sitting with his hat upon his knees, contemplated her furtively. 

"I guess you don't remember me, " she said in frank enjoyment of hismystification, "but I remember you perfectly. I used to see you quiteoften out at Westmarsh when Mr. Burnit was trying to redeem thatpersistent swamp. I am Mr. Platt's sister. "

"No!" exclaimed Biff in amazement. "You can't be the kid that used toride on the excavating cars, and go home with yellow clay on yourdresses every day. "

"I'm the kid, " said she with a musical laugh; "and I'm afraid Ihaven't quite outgrown my hoydenish tendencies even yet. "

Biff had no comment to make. He was lost in wonder over that eternalmystery--the transformation which occurs when a girl passes fromfourteen to eighteen. 

"Don't you remember?" she gaily went on. "You gave me a boxing lessonout there one afternoon and promised to give me more of them, but younever did. "

Biff cleared a sudden huskiness from his throat. 

"I'd be tickled black in the face to make good any day, " he urgedearnestly, and then hastily corrected the offer to: "That is, I meanI'll be very glad to--to finish the job. "

Immediately he turned violently red. 

"I don't seem to care as much for the accomplishment as I did then, "observed the girl with a smile, "but I do wish I could learn to swingmy nice Indian clubs without cracking the back of my head. "

"I got a medal for club swinging, " said Biff diffidently. "I'll teachyou any time you like. It's easy. Come right over to the gym onTuesday and Friday forenoons. Those are ladies' mornings, and I've gotnothing but real classy people at that. "

The entrance of Mr. Platt interrupted Biff just as he was beginning tofeel at ease, and threw that young gentleman, who always appropriatedand absorbed other people's troubles, into much concern; for Mr. Plattwas hollow-eyed and sunken-cheeked from worry. His coat was veryshiny, and his hat was shabby. The dusty and neglected drawing on hiscrude drawing-table told the story all too well. The engineeringbusiness, so far as Mr. Platt was concerned, seemed to be a totalfailure. Nevertheless, he greeted Mr. Bates warmly, and inquired afterMr. Burnit. 

"He's always fine, " said Biff. "He had me come up here to meet him. "

"I should scarcely think he would care to come here after theunfortunate outcome of the work I did for him, " said Mr. Platt. 

"You mean on old Applerod's Subtraction?"

"You couldn't hardly call it the Applerod Addition, could you?"responded Jimmy with a smile. "That was a most unlucky transaction forme as well as for Mr. Burnit. "

Biff looked about the room comprehendingly. 

"I guess it put you on the hummer, all right, " said he. "It don't lookas if you done anything since. "

"But very little, " confessed Mr. Platt. "My failure on that job hurtmy reputation almost fatally. "

Biff gravely sought within himself for words of consolation, one ofhis fleeting ideas being to engage Mr. Platt on the spot to survey thesite of Bates' Athletic Hall, although there was not the slightestpossible need for such a survey. In the midst of his sympathetic gloomcame in Mr. Ferris and Bobby. 

"Jimmy, how would you like to be chief construction engineer of thenew waterworks?" asked Bobby, with scant waste of time, after he hadintroduced Ferris. 

Mr. Platt gasped and paled. 

"I think I could be urged, from a sense of public duty, to give up myhighly lucrative private practice, " he said with a pitiful attempt atlevity, though his voice was husky, and his tightly clenched hand, where the white knuckles rested upon his drawing-table, trembled. 

"Don't build up too much hope on it, Jimmy; but if what we surmise iscorrect you will have a chance at it, " and he briefly explained. "We're going right out there, " concluded Bobby, "and I want you to goalong to help investigate. We have to find some incriminatingevidence, and you'd be more likely to know how and where to look forit than any of us. "

It is needless to say that Jimmy Platt took his hat with alacrity. Before he went out, with new hope in his heart, he turned and shookhands ecstatically with his sister. Still holding Jimmy's hand sheturned to Bobby impulsively:

"I do hope, Mr. Burnit, that this turns out right for Jimmy. "

Bobby turned to her abruptly and with a trace of a frown. It was arather poorly trained office employee, he thought, who would intrudeherself into conversation that it was her duty to forget, but BiffBates caught that look and stepped into the breach. 

"This is Nellie, Bobby--that is, it used to be Nellie, " he stated witha quick correction, and blushed violently. 

"It is Nellie still, " laughed that young lady to Bobby, and thepuzzled look upon his face was swiftly driven away by a smile, as hesuddenly recognized in her traces of the long-legged girl who had beenalways present at the Applerod Addition, who had ridden in hisautomobile, and had confided to him most volubly, upon innumerableoccasions, that her brother Jimmy was about the smartest man who eversighted through a transit. 

In the hastily constructed frame office out at the waterworks site, EdScales, pale and emaciated and with black rings under his eyes, lookedup nervously as Bobby's little army, reënforced from four to six bythe addition of a "plain clothes man" and Dillingham, the _Bulletin's_star reporter, invaded the place. Before a word was spoken, Feeney, the plain clothes man, presented Scales with a writ, which the latterattempted to read with unseeing eyes, his fingers trembling. 

"What does this mean?"

"That I have come to take possession, " said Bobby, "with power to makean examination of every scrap of paper in the place. Frankly, Scales, we expect to find something crooked about the waterworks contract. Ifwe do you know the result. If we do not, the interruption will be onlytemporary, and you will have very pretty grounds for action; for I amtaking a long shot, and if I don't find what I am after I have putmyself and the mayor into a bad scrape. "

Scales thrice opened his mouth to speak, and thrice there came nosound from his lips. Then he laid a bunch of keys upon his desk, shoving them toward Feeney, and rose. He half-staggered into the largecoat room behind him. He had scarcely more than disappeared when therewas the startling roar of a shot, and the body of Scales, with a roundhole in the temple, toppled, face downward, out of the door. It wasScales' tragic confession of guilt. They sprang instantly to him, butnothing could be done for him. He was dead when they reached him. 

"Poor devil, " said Ferris brokenly. "It is probably the first crookedthing he ever did in his life, and he hadn't nerve enough to gothrough with it. I feel like a murderer for my share in the matter. "

Bobby, too, had turned sick; his senses swam and he felt numb andcold. He was aroused by a calm, dispassionate voice at the telephone. It was Dillingham, sending to the _Bulletin_ a carefully lurid accountof the tragedy, and of the probable causes leading up to it. 

"We'll have an extra on the street in five minutes, " he told Bobbywith satisfaction as he rose. "That means that the _Chronicle_ menwill come out in a swarm, but it will take them a half-hour to gethere. We have that much time, then, to dig up the evidence we areafter, and if we hustle we can have a second extra out before the_Chronicle_ can get a line. It's the biggest beat in years. Come on, boys, let's get busy, " and he took up the keys that Scales had left onthe desk. 

Dillingham had no sooner left the telephone than Feeney took up thereceiver and called for a number. The reporter turned upon him like aflash, recognizing that call as the number of the coroner's office. Dillingham suddenly caught himself before he had spoken, and lookedhastily about the room. In the corner near the floor was a little boxwith the familiar bells upon it, and binding screws that held thewires. Quickly Dillingham slipped over to that corner just as Feeneywas saying:

"Hello! Coroner's office, this is Feeney. Is that you, Jack?. .. Well----"

At that instant Dillingham loosened a binding screw and slipped offthe loop of the wire. 

"Hello, coroner!" repeated Feeney. "I say, Jack! Hello! Hello! Hello, there! _Hello! Hello!_" Then Feeney pounded the mouthpiece, jerked thereceiver hook up and down, yelled at exchange, and worked himself intoa vast fever. 

"What's the matter with this thing, anyhow, Dill?" he finallydemanded. 

"Exchange probably went to sleep on you, " said Dillingham. 

Easily he was now opening one by one the immense flat drawers of adrawing-case, and with much interest delving into the huge drawingsthat it contained. 

"Come here, Mr. Platt, " Dillingham went on. "You cast your eagle eyeover these drawings while I do a little job of interviewing, " and hewalked over to the employees of the office, who, since they had beenroughly warned by Feeney not to go near "that body, " had huddled, scared and limp, in the far corner of the room. 

Perspiring and angry, Feeney tried for five solid minutes to obtainsome response from the dead telephone, then he gave it up. 

"I've got to go out and hunt up another 'phone, " he declared. "Biff, I'll appoint you my deputy. Don't let anybody touch the corpse tillthe coroner comes. "

"I'll go with you, " said Bobby hastily, very glad to leave the room, and both he and Mr. Ferris accompanied Feeney. No sooner was Feeneyout of the place than Dillingham reconnected the telephone and wentback to his investigations. He was thoroughly satisfied, after a fewquestions, that the present employees knew nothing whatever, and Plattreported to him that every general drawing he could find was markedthree-tenths inch to the foot, none being marked one-fourth. 

"That doesn't matter so much, " mused Dillingham. "It will be easyenough to prove that these are the same drawings that were providedthe contestants, and six firms will swear that they were markedone-fourth of an inch to the foot. What we have to do is to prove thatthe drawings the Middle West Company used as the basis of their bidwere marked one-fourth inch to the foot. "

The telephone bell rang violently while Dillingham was puzzling overthis matter, and one of the employees started to answer it. 

"No, you don't!" shouted Dillingham. "You fellows are dispossessed. "

He took down the receiver. 

"Waterworks engineer's office?" came a brisk voice through thetelephone. 

"Yes, " said Dillingham. 

"This is the _Chronicle_. The _Bulletin_ has an extra----"

Dillingham waited to hear no more. He hung up the receiver with agrin, and it was music in his ears to hear those bells impatientlyjangling for the next ten minutes. It seemed to quicken hisintelligence, for presently he slapped his hand upon his leg andjumped toward the group of employees in the corner. 

"Say!" he demanded. "Who figured on this job for the Middle WestCompany?"

"Dan Rubble, I suppose, " answered a lanky draftsman, who, stillwearing his apron, had slipped his coat on over his oversleeves andretained his eye-shade under his straw hat. "At least, he seemed toknow all about the plans. He's the boss contractor. There he is now. "

Looking out of the window Dillingham saw a brawny, red-haired giantrunning from the tool-house, carrying a cylindrical tin case aboutfive feet long. He pulled off the cap of this as he came and began todrag from the inside of the case a thick roll of blue-prints. He washurrying toward a big asphalt caldron underneath which blazed a hotwood fire. 

"Come on, Biff, " yelled Dillingham, and hurried out of the door, closely followed by Bates. 

They both ran with all their might toward the caldron, but before theycould reach the spot Rubble had shoved the entire roll into the fire. Biff wasted no precious moments, but, glaring Mr. Rubble in the eye ashe ran, doubled his fist with the evident intention of damaging thatlarge gentleman's countenance with it. He suddenly ducked his roundhead as he approached, however, and plunged it into the middle of Mr. Rubble's appetite; whereupon Mr. Rubble grunted heavily, and sat downquite uncomfortably near to the caldron. Biff, though it scorched hishands, dragged the blazing roll of blue-prints from the flames and, seizing a near-by pail of water, started for the drawings, just as bigDan regained his feet and made a rush for him. 

Dillingham, slight and no fighter but full of sand, jumped crosswiseinto that mêlée, and with a flying leap literally hung himself aboutRubble's neck. Big Dan, roaring like a bull at this unexpected andmost unprofessional mode of warfare, placed his two hands uponDillingham's hips and tried to force him away; failing in this, he ranstraight forward with all this living clog hanging to him, and planteda terrific kick upon Biff's ribs, just as Biff had dashed the pail ofwater from end to end of the blazing roll of drawings. He poised foranother kick, but Biff had dropped the pail by this time, and as thefoot swung forward he grabbed it. Rubble, losing his balance, pitchedforward, landing squarely upon the top of the unhappy Dillingham, whosignified his retirement from the game with an astonishingly large"Woof!" to come from so small a body; moreover, he released his arms;but Rubble, freed from the weight on his chest, found another one onhis back. Biff felt quite competent to manage him, but by this timehalf a dozen men came running from different directions, and as therewere a hundred or more of them on the job, all beholden for theirdaily bread and butter to Mr. Rubble, things looked bad for Biff andDillingham. 

"Back up there, you mutts, or I'll make peek-a-boo patterns out of thelot of you!" howled a penetrating voice, and Mr. Feeney, heading therelief party, which consisted only of Bobby and Mr. Ferris, whippedfrom each hip pocket a huge blue-steel revolver, at the same timebrushing back his coat to display his badge. 

Those men might have fought Mr. Feeney's guns, but they had no mind tofight that badge, and they held back while Bobby and Mr. Ferris helpedto calm Mr. Rubble by the simple expedient of sitting on him. 

Three days later Bobby induced Messrs. Sharpe, Trimmer and all oftheir associates, without any difficulty whatever, to meet with him inthe office of the mayor. 

"Gentlemen of the Middle West Construction Company, " said Bobby; "I amsorry to say that you are not telling the truth when you claim thatyou figured _in good faith_ on this absurd and almost unknownthree-tenths-inch scale, when all the others figured on the samedrawings at one-fourth inch. The rescue of these prints, covered withRubble's marginal figures, does not leave you a leg to stand on, " andBobby tapped his knuckles upon the charred-edged blueprints that layunrolled on the desk before him. Fortunately the three inside printswere left fairly intact, and these were plainly marked one-fourth inchto the foot. "Moreover, rolled up inside the blueprints was evenbetter evidence, " went on Bobby; "evidence that Mr. Trimmer hasperhaps forgotten. Nothing has been said about it until now, andnothing has been published since we saved them from the fire. "

From the drawer of his desk he drew several sheets of white paper. They were letter-heads of Trimmer and Company and were covered withRubble's figures. 

"Here's a note from Mr. Trimmer to Mr. Rubble, requesting him toprepare a statement showing the difference in cost '_betweenthree-tenths and one-fourth_. ' He does not say three-tenths orone-fourth what, but that is quite enough, taken in conjunction withthese summaries on another sheet of paper. They are set down in twocolumns, one headed three-tenths and the other one-fourth. I have hadMr. Platt go over these figures, and he finds that the first number inone column exactly corresponds to the number of yards of excavating inthis job when figured on the scale of three-tenths inch to the foot. The first number in the next column exactly corresponds to theexcavating when figured at the one-fourth-inch scale. Every item willcompare in the same manner: concrete, masonry, face-brick, and all. Now, if you chaps want to take this clumsy and almost laughableattempt at a steal into the courts I'm perfectly willing; but I shouldadvise you not to do so. "

Mr. Sharpe cleared his throat. He, the first one to declare that theMiddle West would "go into court and stand upon its rights, " was nowthe first one to recant. 

"I don't suppose it's worth while to contest the matter, " he admitted. "We have no show with your administration, I see. We lose the contractand will step down and out quite peaceably; although there ought to besome arrangement by which we might get credit for the amount of workalready done. "

"No, " declared Chalmers, with quite a reproving smile, "you may justkeep on using the available part of it; for the point is that _youdon't lose the contract_! You keep the contract, and you will buildthe power-house upon the original scale of one-fourth inch to thefoot. Also you will carry out the rest of the work on the same basisas figured by other contractors. I want to remind you that you arewell bonded, well financed, and that the city holds a guarantee oftwenty per cent. Of the contract price as a forfeit for the due andproper completion of this job. "

"Why, it means bankruptcy!" shrieked Silas Trimmer, the deeply-gravencircle about his mouth now being but the pallid and piteous caricatureof his old-time sinister smile. 

"That is precisely what I intend, " retorted Bobby with a snap of hisjaws. "I have long, long scores to settle with both of you gentlemen. "

"But you haven't against the other members of this company, " protestedSharpe. "Our other stockholders are entirely innocent parties. "

"They have my sincere sympathy for being caught in such dubiouscompany, " replied Bobby with a contemptuous smile. "I happen to have aroster of your stock-holders, and every man of them has been mixed upin crooked deals in combination with Stone or Stone enterprises; sowhatever they lose on this contract will be merely by way ofrestitution to the city. "

"Look here, Mr. Burnit, " said Sharpe, dropping his tone ofremonstrance for one intended to be wheedling; "I know there are anumber of financial matters between us that might have a tendency tomake you vindictive. Now why can't we just get together nicely on allof these things and compromise?"

Chalmers rapped his knuckles sharply upon his desk. 

"Kindly remember where you are, " he warned. 

"When I get around to settling day there will be no such thing as acompromise, " declared Bobby with repressed anger. "I'll settle allthose other matters in my own way and at my own time. "

"One thing more, gentlemen, " said Chalmers, as the chopfallencommittee of the Middle West Construction Company rose to depart; "Iwish to remind you that there is a forfeit clause in your contract fordelay, so I should advise you to resume operations at once. Mr. Plattsucceeds the unfortunate Mr. Scales as constructing engineer, and hewill see that the plans and specifications of the entire contract arecarried out to the letter. "

Platt, who had said nothing, walked away with Bobby. 

"You were speaking about following the plans exactly, Mr. Burnit, " hesaid when they were alone upon the street. "I find on an examinationof the subsoil that there will be a few minor changes required. Therunway, for instance, which goes down to the river northward from thepower-house for the purpose of unloading coal barges, would be muchbetter placed on the south side, away from the intake. There ispractically no difference in expense, except that in running to thesouthward the riprap work will need to be carried about three feetdeeper and with concreted walls, in place of being thrown loosely inthe trenches as originally planned. "

"All those things are up to you, Jimmy, " said Bobby indifferently. "You must use your own judgment. Any changes of the sort that you deemnecessary just bring before the city council, and I am quite sure thatyou can secure permission to make them. "

"Very well, " said Platt, and he left Bobby at the corner with acurious smile. 

He was a different looking Jimmy Platt from the one Bobby had found inhis office a week before. He was clean-shaven now, and his clothingwas quite prosperous looking. Bobby, surmising the condition ofaffairs, had delicately insisted on making Platt a loan, to be repaidfrom his salary at a conveniently distant period, and the world lookedvery bright indeed to him. 

The next day work on the new waterworks was resumed. In bitterconsultation the Middle West Construction Company had discovered thatthey would lose less by fulfilling their contract than by forfeitingtheir twenty per cent. , and they dispiritedly turned in again, keptconstantly whipped up to the mark by Platt and by the knowledge thatevery day's non-completion of the work meant a heavy additionalforfeit, which they had counted on being able to evade so long as thecomplaisant Mr. Scales was in charge. 

CHAPTER XXIX

JIMMY PLATT ENJOYS THE HAPPIEST DAY OF HIS LIFE

The straightening out of the waterworks matter left Bobby free to turnhis attention to the local gas and electric situation. The _Bulletin_, since Bobby had defeated his political enemies, had been put upon apaying basis and was rapidly earning its way out of the debt that hehad been compelled to incur for it; but the Brightlight ElectricCompany was a thorn in his side. Its only business now was the streetillumination of twelve blocks, under a municipal contract which losthim money every month, and it had been a terrific task to keep itgoing. 

The Consolidated Illuminating and Power Company, however, Bobbydiscovered by careful inquiry, was in even worse financial straitsthan the Brightlight. To its thirty millions of stock, mostly water, twenty more millions of water had been added, making a totalorganization of fifty million dollars; and the twenty million dollars'stock had been sold to the public for ten million dollars, eachpurchaser of one share of preferred being given one share of common. As the preferred was to draw five per cent. , this meant that two andone-half million dollars a year must be paid out in dividends. Thesalary roll of the company was enormous, and the number of non-workingofficers who drew extravagant stipends would have swamped any company. Comparing the two concerns, Bobby felt that in the Brightlight he hadvastly the better property of the two, in that there was no water init at its present, half-million-dollar capitalization. 

It was while pondering these matters that Bobby, dropping in at theIdlers' Club one dull night, found no one there but Silas Trimmer'sson-in-law, the vapid and dissolute Clarence Smythe, which was atrifle worse than finding the place entirely deserted. To-nightClarence was in possession of what was known at the Idlers' as "one ofSmythe's soggy buns, " and despite countless snubs in the past heseized upon Bobby as a receptacle for his woes. 

"I'm going to leave this town for good, Burnit!" he declared withoutany preliminaries, having waited so long to convey this startling andimportant information that salutations were entirely forgotten. 

"For good! For whose good?" inquired Bobby. 

"Mine, " responded Clarence. "This town's gone to the bow-wows. It's inthe hands of a lot of pikers. There's no chance to make big money anymore. "

"Yes, I know, " said Bobby dryly; "I had something to do with that, myself. "

"It was a fine lot of muck-raking you did, " charged Clarence. "Well, I'll give you another item for your paper. I have resigned from theConsolidated. "

"It was cruel of you. "

"It was time, " said Clarence, ignoring the flippancy. "Something'sgoing to drop over there. "

Bobby smiled. 

"It's always dropping, " he agreed. 

"This is the big drop, " the other went on, with a wine-laden man'spride in the fact of possessing valuable secrets. "They're going tomake a million-dollar bond issue. "

"What for?" inquired Bobby. 

"They need the money, " chuckled Mr. Smythe. "Those city bonds, youknow. "

"What bonds?" demanded Bobby eagerly, but trying to speaknonchalantly. 

Mr. Smythe suddenly realized the solemn gravity of his folly. Oncemore he was talking too much. Once more! It was a thing to weep over. "I'm a fool, " he confessed in awe-stricken tones; "a rotten fool, Burnit. I'm ashamed to look anybody in the face. I'm ashamed----"

"It's highly commendable of you, I'm sure, " Bobby agreed, and took hishasty leave before Clarence should begin to sob. 

Immediately he called up Chalmers at his home. 

"Chalmers, " he demanded, "why must the Consolidated Illuminating andPower Company purchase city bonds?"

Chalmers laughed. 

"Originally so Sam Stone could lend money to the Consumers' Electric. It is a part of their franchise, which is renewable at their option inten-year periods, and which became a part of the Consolidated'sproperty when the combine was effected. To insure 'faithfulperformance of contract, ' for which clause every crooked municipalityhas a particular affection, they were to purchase a million dollars'worth of city bonds. Each year one hundred thousand dollars' worthwere retired. In the tenth year, in renewing their franchise for thenext ten years, they were compelled to renew also their milliondollars of city bonds. These bonds they then used as collateral. Stonecarried all that he could, at enormous usury, I understand, and letsome of his banker friends in on the rest; and I suppose the bankspaid him a rake-off. The ten-year period is up this fall, and theirbonds are naturally retired; but, of course, they will renew. "

"I'm not so sure about that, " said Bobby. "Look up everythingconnected with it in the morning, and I'll see you at noon. "

When they met the next day at noon, however, before Bobby could talkabout the business in hand, Chalmers, with a suppressed smile, handedhim a folded slip of paper. 

Bobby examined that legal document--a dissolution of the injunctionwhich had tied up a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in his bank formore than two years--with a sigh of relief. 

"It seems, " said Chalmers dryly, "that at the time you laid yourselfliable to Madam Villenauve's breach-of-promise suit she had anundivorced husband living, Monsieur Villenauve complacently hidinghimself in France and waiting for his share of the money. Let this bea lesson to you, young man. "

Bobby hotly resented that grin. 

"I'll swear to you, Chalmers, " he asserted, "I never so much asthought of the woman except as a nuisance. "

"I apologize, old man, " said Chalmers. "But at least this will teachyou not to back any more grand opera companies. "

"I prefer to talk about the electric situation, " said Bobby severely. "What have you found out about it?"

"That the Ebony Jewel Coal Company, a former Stone enterprise, hasthreatened suit against the Consolidated for their bill. TheConsolidated is in a pinch and must raise money, not only to buy thatallotment of the new waterworks bonds, but to meet the Ebony's andother pressing accounts. It must also float this bond issue, for it islikely to fall behind even on its salary list. "

"Fine!" said Bobby. "I can see a lot of good citizens in this townholding stock in a bankrupt illuminating concern. Just watch thisthing, will you, Chalmers? About this nice, lucky hundred and fiftythousand, we may count it as spent. "

"What in?" asked Chalmers, smiling. "Do you think you can trustyourself with all that money?"

"Hush, " said Bobby. "Don't breathe it aloud. I'm going to buy up allthe Brightlight Electric stock I can find. It's too bad, Chalmers, " headded with a grin, "that as mayor of the city you could not, withpropriety, hold stock in this company, " and although Chalmers tried tocall him back Bobby did not wait. He was too busy, he said. 

His business was to meet Agnes and Mrs. Elliston for luncheondown-town, and during the meal he happened to remark that ClarenceSmythe had determined to shake the dust of the city from his feet. 

"I thought so, " declared Agnes. "Aunt Constance, I'm afraid you'llhave to finish your shopping without me. I must call upon Mrs. Smythe. "

Mrs. Elliston frowned her disapproval, but she knew better than toprotest. Before Agnes called upon Mrs. Smythe, however, she dropped inat the manufacturing concern of D. A. Elliston and Company. 

"Uncle Dan, how much money of mine have you in charge just now?" shedemanded to know. 

"Cash? About five or six thousand. "

"And how much more could you raise on my property?"

"Right away? About fifteen, on bonds and such securities. This is notime to sacrifice real estate. "

"It isn't enough, " said Agnes, frowning, and was silent for a time. "You'll just have to loan me about ten thousand more. "

"Oh, will I?" he retorted. "What for?"

"I want to make an investment. "

"So I judged, " he dryly responded. "Well, young lady, as your stewardI reckon I'll have to know something more about this investment beforeI turn over any money. "

With sparkling eyes and blushes that would come in spite of her, shetold him what she intended to do. When she had concluded, Dan Ellistonslapped his knees in huge joy. 

"You shall have all the money you want, " he declared. 

Upon that same afternoon Bobby started to buy up, here and there, nearly the entire stock of the Brightlight, purchasing it at anabsurdly low price. Then he went to De Graff, to Dan Elliston, and toothers to whose discretion he could trust. His own plans were wellunder way when the Consolidated Illuminating and Power Companyannounced, with a great flourish of trumpets, its new bond issue. The_Bulletin_ made no comment upon this. It merely published the newsfact briefly and concisely--an unexpected attitude, which broughtsurprise, then wonder, then suspicion to the office of the_Chronicle_. The _Chronicle_ had been a Stone organ during the heydeyof Stone's prosperity; the _Bulletin_ had fought the Consolidatedtooth and toe-nail; the already criminally overcapitalizedConsolidated was about to float a new bond issue; the _Bulletin_ didnot fight this issue; _ergo_, the _Bulletin_ must have something togain by the issue. 

The _Chronicle_ waited three days, then began to fight the bond issueitself, which was precisely the effect for which Bobby had planned. Grown astute, Bobby realized that if the bond issue failed theConsolidated would go bankrupt at once instead of a year or so later. The newspaper, however, which would force that bankruptcy would, bythat act, be the apparent means of losing a vast amount of money tothe poor investors of the town, and Bobby left that ungrateful task tothe _Chronicle_. He even went so far as to defend the Consolidated ina mild sort of manner, a proceeding which fanned the _Chronicle_ intofresh fury. 

For three months desperate attempts were made by the Consolidated tomake the new bonds attractive to the public, but less than one hundredthousand dollars was subscribed. Bobby was tabulating the knownresults of this subscription with much satisfaction one morning whenFerris walked into his office. 

"I hope you didn't come into town to dig up another scandal, old man, "said Bobby, greeting his contractor-friend with keen pleasure. 

"No, " said Ferris; "came in to give you a bit of news. The GreatEastern and Western Railroad wants to locate its shop here, and isbuilding by private bid. I have secured the contract, subject tocertain alterations of price for distance of hauling and difficulty ofexcavation; but the thing is liable to fall through for lack of alocation. They can't get the piece of property they are after, andthere is only one other one large enough and near enough to the city. The chief engineer and I are going out to look at it again to-day. Come with us. If we decide that the property will do, and if we cansecure it, you may have an exclusive news-item that would be verypretty, I should judge. " And Ferris smiled at some secret joke. 

"I'll go with pleasure, " said Bobby, "and not by any means just forthe news. When do you want to go?"

"Oh, right away, I guess. I'll telephone to Shepherd and have himorder a rig. "

"What's the use?" demanded Bobby, much interested. "My car's rightwithin call. I'll have it brought up. "

Shepherd, the chief engineer of the G. E. And W. , when they picked himup at the hotel, proved to be an entire human being with red whiskersand not a care in the world. Bobby was enjoying a lot of preliminarypersiflage when Shepherd incidentally mentioned their destination. 

"It is known as Westmarsh, " he observed. "I suppose you know where itis. "

Bobby, who had already started the machine and had placed his hand onthe steering wheel, gave a jerk so violent that he almost sent themachine diagonally across the street, and Ferris laughed aloud. Hislittle joke was no longer a secret. 

"Westmarsh!" Bobby repeated. "Why, I own that undrainable swamp. "

"Swamp?" exclaimed Shepherd. "It's as dry as a bone. I looked it overlast night and am going out to-day to study the possible approaches toit. "

"But you say it is dry!" protested Bobby, unable to believe it. 

"Dry as powder, " asserted Shepherd. "There has been an immense amountof water out there, but it has been well taken care of by the splendiddrainage system that has been put in. "

"It cost a lot of money to put in that drainage system, " commentedBobby; "but we found it impracticable to drain an entire river. "

It was Shepherd's turn to be puzzled, a process in which he stopped tolaugh. 

"This is the first time I ever heard an owner belittle his ownproperty, " he declared. "I suppose that next you'll only accept halfthe price we offer. "

Bobby kept up his part of the conversation but feebly as they whirledout to the site of the old Applerod Addition. He was lost inspeculation upon what could possibly have happened to that unfortunateswamp area. When they arrived, however, he was surprised to find thatShepherd had been correct. The ground, though sunken in places andblack with the residue of one-time stagnant water, was firm enough towalk upon, and after many tests he even ran the machine across andacross it. Moreover, grass and weeds, forcing their way here andthere, were already beginning to hide and redeem the ugly earthensurface. 

Bobby surveyed the miracle in amazement. It was the first time he hadseen the place in a year. Even in his trips to the waterworks site, which was just north, beyond the hill, he had chosen the longer andless solid river road rather than to come past this spot ofhumiliating memories. 

"I can't understand it, " he said again and again to the two men. "Why, Mr. Shepherd, I spent thousands of dollars in filling this swamp anddraining it, with the idea of making a city subdivision here. SilasTrimmer, the man from whom I bought the place, imagined it to be fedby underground springs, but he let me spend a fortune to attractpeople out to see my new building lots so that he could, without cost, sell his own. That is his addition up there on the hills, and I'm gladto say he has recently mortgaged it for all that it will carry. "

"How about the springs?" asked Shepherd with a frown. "Did you findthem? You must have stopped them. Are they liable to break out again?"

"That's the worst of it, " replied Bobby, still groping. "It wasn'tsprings at all. It was a peculiar geological formation, somedisarranged strata leading beneath the hill from the river andemptying into the bottom of this pond. All through the year it seepedin faster than our extensive drainings could carry it away, and in thespring and fall, when the river was high, it poured in. I don't seewhat could have happened. Suppose we run over and see the engineer whoworked on this with me. He is now in charge of the new waterworks. "

In five minutes they were over there. Jimmy Platt, out in hisshirt-sleeves under a broad-brimmed straw hat, greeted them mostcordially, but when Bobby explained to him the miracle that hadhappened to the old Applerod Addition, Platt laughed until the tearscame into his eyes; and even after he stopped laughing there weretraces of them there. 

"Come down here and I'll show you, " said he. 

Leading south from the pumping station, diagonally down the steep bankto the river, had been built a splendid road, flanked on both sides byvery solid, substantial-looking retaining walls. 

"You see this wall?" asked Jimmy, pointing to the inside one. "It runstwenty feet below low-water level, and is solidly cemented. Youremember when I got permission to move this road from the north sideto the south side of the pumping station? I did that after anexamination of the subsoil. This wall cuts off the natural siphon thatfed the water to your Applerod Addition. I have been going past therein huge joy twice a day, watching that swamp dry up. "

"In other words, " said Bobby, "you have been doing a little privategrafting on my account. How many additional dollars did thatextra-deep wall cost?"

"I'm not going to tell you, " asserted Jimmy stoutly. "It isn't verymuch, but whatever it is the city good and plenty owes you for savingit over a million on this job. But if I'd had to pay for it myself Iwould have done it to correct the mistake I made when I started todrain that swamp for you. I guess this is about the most satisfactoryminute of my life, " and he looked it. 

"A fine piece of work, " agreed Shepherd, casting a swift eye over theimmense and busy waterworks site, and then glancing at the hill acrosswhich lay Bobby's property. "You're lucky to have had this chance, Mr. Platt, " and he shook hands cordially with Jimmy. "I'm perfectlysatisfied, Mr. Burnit. Do you want to sell that property?"

"If I can get out at a profit, " replied Bobby. "Otherwise I'll regradethe thing and split it up into building lots as I originallyintended. "

"Let's go back down to the hotel and talk 'turkey, '" offered Shepherdbriskly. "What do you think of the place, Ferris? Will it do?"

"Fine!" said Ferris. "The property lies so low that we won't have tocart away a single load of our excavation. If we can only get aright-of-way through that natural approach to the northeast--"

"I think I can guarantee a right-of-way, " interrupted Bobby, smiling, with his mind upon the city council which had been created by his ownefforts. 

"All right, " said Shepherd. "We'll talk price until I have browbeatenyou as low as you will go. Then I'll prepare a plat of the place andsend it on to headquarters. You'll have an answer from them in threedays. "

As they whirred away Bobby's eyes happened to rest upon a young manand a young woman rowing idly down-stream in a skiff, and he smiled ashe recognized Biff Bates and Nellie Platt. 

On the day Bobby got the money for his Westmarsh property old Applerodcame up from the office of the Brightlight Electric Company, where heheld a lazy, sleepy afternoon job as "manager, " and with aningratiating smile handed Bobby a check for five thousand dollars. 

"What's this for?" asked Bobby, puzzled. 

"I have decided to give you back the money and take up again myapproximate one-fifth share in the Applerod Addition, " announced thatgentleman complacently. 

Bobby was entirely too much surprised at this to be amused. 

"You're just a trifle too late, Mr. Applerod, " said he. "Had you cometo me two weeks ago, when I thought the land was worthless, out ofcommon decency I would not have let you buy in again. Since then, however, I have sold the tract at a profit of forty thousand dollars. "

"You have?" exclaimed Applerod. "I heard you were going to dosomething of the kind. I'm entitled to one-fifth of that profit, Mr. Burnit--eight thousand dollars. "

"You're entitled to a good, swift poke in the neck!" exclaimed thevoice of wizened old Johnson, who stood in the doorway, and who, sincehis friendship with Biff Bates, had absorbed some of that gentleman'svigorous vernacular. "Applerod, I'll give you just one minute to getout of this office. If you don't I'll throw you downstairs!"

"Mr. Johnson, " said Applerod with great dignity, "this office does notbelong to you. I have as much right here--"

Mr. Johnson, taking a trot around Bobby's desk so as to get Mr. Applerod between him and the door, made a threatening demonstrationtoward the rear, and Applerod, suddenly deserting his dignity, rushedout. Bobby straightened his face as Johnson, still blazing, came infrom watching Applerod's ignominious retreat. 

"Well, Johnson, " said he, ignoring the incident as closed, "what can Ido for you to-day?"

"Nothing!" snapped Johnson. "I have forgotten what I came for!" andgoing out he slammed the door behind him. 

In the course of an hour Bobby was through with his morning allotmentof mail and his daily consultation with Jolter, and then he calledJohnson to his office. 

"Johnson, " said he, "I want you to do me a favor. There is one blockof Brightlight stock that I have not yet bought up. It is in the handsof J. W. Williams, one of the old Stone crowd, who ought to be wantingmoney by this time. He holds one hundred shares, which you should beable to buy by now at fifty dollars a share. I want you to buy thisstock in your own name, and I want to loan you five thousand dollarsto do it with. I merely want voting power; so after you get it you mayhold it if you like and still owe me the five thousand dollars, orI'll take it off your hands at any time you are tired of theobligation. You'd better go to Barrister and have him buy the stockfor you. "

"Yes, sir, " said Johnson. 

Bobby immediately went to De Graff. 

"I came to subscribe for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars' worthof additional stock in the New Brightlight. I have just deposited twohundred and eighty-five thousand dollars in your bank. "

"You're becoming an expert, " said De Graff with a quizzical smile. "With the million dollars' valuation at which we are to buy in thepresent Brightlight, the two hundred and fifty thousand subscribed forby Dan Elliston, and the ten thousand held by Miss Elliston, this newsubscription about gives you control of the New Brightlight, don'tit?"

"That's what I want, " Bobby exulted. "You don't object, do you?"

"Not on my own account, " De Graff assured him; "but you'd better haveBarrister buy this in for you until we are organized. Then you cantake it over. "

"I guess you're right, " agreed Bobby. "I'll send Barrister right over, and I think I shall make him take up the remaining ten thousand on hisown account. A week from to-night is the council meeting at which theConsolidated must make good to renew their franchise, and we don'twant any hitch in getting our final incorporation papers by that time. The members of the Consolidated are singing swan songs in sevensimultaneous keys at this very moment. "

Bobby's description of the condition of the Consolidated was scarcelyexaggerated. It was a trying and a hopeless period for them. The bondissue had failed miserably. It had not needed the _Chronicle_ toremind the public of what a shaky proposition the Consolidated was, for Bobby had thoroughly exposed the corporation during the_Bulletin's_ campaign against Sam Stone. Bond-floating companies fromother cities were brought in, and after an examination of the booksthrew up their hands in horror at the crudest muddle they had everfound in any investigation of municipal affairs. 

On the night of the council meeting, Sharpe and Trimmer and Williams, representing the Consolidated, were compelled to come before thecouncil and confess their inability to take up the bonds required torenew their franchise; but they begged that this clause, since it wasan entirely unnecessary one and was not enjoined upon gas or electriccompanies in other cities, be not enforced. Council, however, wasobdurate, and the committee thereupon begged for a further extensionof time in which to raise the necessary amount of money. Council stillwas obdurate, and by that obduracy the franchise of the Consumers'Electric Company, said franchise being controlled by the ConsolidatedIlluminating and Power Company, became null and void. 

Thereupon Bobby Burnit, President De Graff and Dan Elliston, representing the New Brightlight Electric Company, recently organizedfor three million dollars, came forward and prayed for a franchise forthe electric lighting of the entire city, agreeing to take over thepoles and wiring of the Consolidated at a fair valuation; and councilwas not at all obdurate, which was scarcely strange when one reflectedthat every member of that municipal body had been selected and put inplace through the direct instrumentality of Bobby Burnit. It waspractical politics, true enough, but Bobby had no qualms whateverabout it. 

"It may be quite true that I have not been actuated by any highlynoble motives in this, " he confessed to a hot charge by Williams, "butso long as in municipal affairs I am not actuated by any ignoblemotives I am doing pretty fairly in this town. "

There was just the bare trace of brutality in Bobby as he said this, and he suddenly recognized it in himself with dismay. What pity Bobbymight have felt for these bankrupt men, however, was swept away in agust of renewed aggressiveness when Trimmer, arousing himself from theashen age which seemed all at once to be creeping over him, said, witha return of that old circular smile which had so often beforeaggravated Bobby:

"I am afraid I'll have to draw out of my other ventures and retire onmy salary as president and manager of Trimmer and Company. "

Vengefulness was in Bobby's eyes as he followed Trimmer's sprawlingfigure, so much like a bloated spider's in its bigness ofcircumference and its attenuation of limbs, that suddenly he shudderedand turned away as when one finds oneself about to step upon a toad. 

CHAPTER XXX

IN WHICH, BEING THE LAST CHAPTER, EVERYTHING TURNS OUT RIGHT, ANDEVERYBODY GETS MARRIED

At the offices of the New Brightlight Electric Company there wasuniversal rejoicing. Johnson was removed from the _Bulletin_ to takecharge of the new organization until it should be completed, and Bobbyhimself, for a few days, was compelled to spend most of his timethere. During the first week after the granting of the franchise Bobbycalled Johnson to him. 

"Mr. Johnson, " said he quite severely, "you have been so careful andso faithful in all other things that I dislike to remind you of anoverlooked duty. "

"I am sorry, sir, " said Johnson. "What is it?"

"You have neglected to make out a note for that five-thousand-dollarloan. Kindly draw it up now, payable in ten years, with interest atfour per cent. _after_ the date of maturity. "

"But, sir, " stammered Johnson, "the stock is worth par now. "

"Would you like to keep it?"

"I'd be a fool to say I wouldn't, sir. But the stock is not only worthpar, --it was worth that in the old Brightlight; and I received anexchange of two for one in the New Brightlight, which is also worthpar this morning; so I hold twenty thousand dollars' worth of stock. "

"It cost me five thousand, " insisted Bobby, "and we'll settle at thatfigure. "

"I don't know how to thank you, sir, " trembled Johnson, but hestiffened immediately as Applerod intruded himself into the room witha bundle of papers which he laid upon the desk. 

"I beg your pardon, Mr. Burnit, " began Applerod, "but I have fivethousand dollars I'd like to invest in the New Brightlight Company ifyou could manage it for me. "

"I'm sorry, Applerod, " said Bobby, "but there isn't a share for sale. It was subscribed to the full capitalization before the incorporationpapers were issued. "

Applerod was about to leave the room in deep dejection when Johnson, with a sudden happy inspiration, called him back. 

"I think I know where you can buy five thousand, " said Johnson; "butyou will have to hurry to get it. "

"Where?" asked Applerod eagerly, while Bobby went to the window toconceal his broad smiles. 

"Just put on your hat and go right over to Barrister, " directedJohnson; "and take a blank check with you. I'll telephone him, to savetime for you. The stock is worth par, and that lonesome fifty shareswill be snapped up before you know it. "

"You will excuse me till I go up-town, Mr. Burnit?" inquired Applerod, and bustled out eagerly. 

He had no sooner left the building than Johnson grabbed Bobby'stelephone and called up Barrister. 

"This is Johnson, " he said to the old attorney. "I have just sentApplerod over to you to buy fifty shares of New Brightlight at par. Take his check and hold it for delivery of the stock. I'll have itover to you within an hour, or as soon as I can have the transfermade. It is my stock, but I don't want him to know it. "

Hanging up the receiver old Johnson sat in the chair by Bobby's deskand his thin shoulders heaved with laughter. 

"Applerod will be plumb crazy when he finds that out, " he said. "Tothink that I have fifteen thousand dollars' worth of this good stockthat didn't cost me a cent, all paid for with Applerod's own fivethousand dollars!"

Johnson laughed so hard that finally he was compelled to lay his headon the desk in front of him, with his lean old fingers over his eyes. 

"Thanks to you, Robert; thanks to you, " he added after a littlesilence. 

Bobby, turning from the window, saw the thin shoulders still heaving. There was a glint of moisture on the lean hands that had toiled for somany years in the Burnit service, and as Bobby passed he placed hishand on old Johnson's bowed head for just an instant, then went out, leaving Johnson alone. 

It was Applerod who, returning triumphantly with Barrister's promiseof the precious block of New Brightlight for delivery in theafternoon, brought Bobby a copy of his own paper containing so muchstartling news that the front page consisted only of a hysteria ofhead-lines. Sudden proceedings in bankruptcy had been filed againstthe Consolidated Illuminating and Power Company. These proceedings hadrevealed the fact that Frank L. Sharpe, supposed to have left the cityon business for the company, had in reality disappeared with theentire cash balance of the Consolidated. This disappearance hadimmediately thrust the Middle West Construction Company intobankruptcy. By Stone's own acts the Stone enterprises had crumpled andfallen, and all his adherents were ruined. 

Out of the chaos that the startling facts he was able to glean createdin Bobby's mind there came a thought of Ferris, and he immediatelytelephoned him, out at the site of the new G. E. And W. Shops, whereground was already being broken, that he would be out that way. 

Half an hour later he took Ferris into his machine and they whirledover to the waterworks site, where the work had stopped as abruptly asif that scene of animation had suddenly been stricken of a plague anddied. On the way Bobby explained to Ferris what had happened. 

"You were the lowest legitimate bidder on the job, I believe, " heconcluded. 

"Yes, outside of the local company. "

"If I were you I'd get busy with Jimmy Platt on an estimate of thework already done, " suggested Bobby. "I think it very likely that thecity council will offer the Keystone Construction Company the contractat its former figure, with the proper deductions for present progress. We will make up the difference between their bid and yours, andwhatever loss there is in taking up the work will come out of theforfeit put up by the Middle West Company. "

Jimmy Platt ran out to meet them like a lost soul. The waterworksproject had become his pet. He lived with it and dreamed of it, andthat there was a prospect of resuming work, and under such skilfulsupervision as that of Ferris, delighted him. While Jimmy and Mr. Ferris went into the office to prepare a basis of estimating, Bobbystayed behind to examine the carbureter of his machine, which had beenacting suspiciously on the way out, and while he was engaged in thistask a voice that he knew quite well saluted him with:

"Fine work, old pal! I guess you put all your lemons into the squeezerand got the juice, eh?"

Biff had a copy of the _Bulletin_ in his hand, which was sufficientexplanation of his congratulations. 

"Things do seem to be turning out pretty lucky for me, Biff, " Bobbyconfessed, and then, looking at Mr. Bates, he immediately apologized. "I beg pardon for calling you Biff, " said he. "I should have said Mr. Bates. "

"Cut it!" growled Biff, looking himself over with some complacencynevertheless. 

From his nice new derby, which replaced the slouch cap he had alwayspreferred, to his neat and uncomfortably-pointed gun-metal leatherswhich had supplanted the broad-toed tans, Mr. Bates was an epitome ofneatly-pressed grooming. White cuffs edged the sleeves of his graybusiness suit, and--wonder of wonders!--he wore a white shirt with awhite collar, in which there was tied a neat bow of--last wonder ofall--modest gray!

"I suppose that costume is due to distinctly feminine influence, eh, Biff?"

"Guilty as Cassie Chadwick!" replied Biff with a sheepish grin. "She'stryin' to civilize me. "

"Who is?" demanded Bobby. 

"Oh, _she_ is. You know who I mean. Why, she's even taught me to cutout slang. Say, Bobby, I didn't know how much like a rough-neck I usedto talk. I never opened my yawp but what I spilled a line offricasseed gab so twisted and frazzled and shredded you could use itto stuff sofa-cushions; but now I've handed that string of talk thescrew number. No more slang for your Uncle Biff. "

"I'm glad you have quit it, " approved Bobby soberly. "I suppose thenext thing I'll hear will be the wedding bells. "

"No!" Biff denied in a tone so pained and shocked that Bobby looked upin surprise to see his face gone pale. "Don't talk about that, Bobby. Why, I wouldn't dare even think of it myself. I--I never think aboutit. Me? with a mitt like a picnic ham? Did you ever see her hand, Bobby? And her eyes and her hair and all? Why, Bobby, if I'd evercatch myself daring to think about marrying that girl I'd take myselfby the Adam's apple and give myself the damnedest choking that everturned a mutt's map purple. "

"I'm sorry, after all, that you are through with slang, Biff, " saidBobby, "because if you were still using it you might have expressedthat idea so much more picturesquely;" but Biff did not hear him, forfrom the office came Nellie Platt with a sun-hat in her hand. 

"Right on time, " she said gaily to Biff, and, with a pleasant word forBobby, went down with Mr. Bates to the river bank, where lay the neatlittle skiff that Jimmy had bought for her. 

Bobby and Ferris and Platt, standing up near the filters, later on, were startled by a scream from the river, and, turning, they saw theskiff, in mid-stream, struck by a passing steamer and splintered as ifit were made of pasteboard. Nellie had been rowing. Biff had calledher attention to the approaching steamer, across the path of whichthey were passing. There had been plenty of time to row out of the wayof it, but Nellie in grasping her oar for a quick turn had lost it. Fortunately the engines had been stopped immediately when the pilothad seen that they must strike, so that there was no appreciableunderdrag. Biff's head had been grazed slightly, enough to daze himfor an instant, but he held himself up mechanically. Nellie, cloggedby her skirts, could not swim, and as Biff got his bearings he saw herclose by him going down for the second time. Two men sprang from thelower deck of the steamer, but Biff reached her first, and, his sensesinstantly clearing as he caught her, he struck out for the shore. 

The three men on shore immediately ran down the bank, and sprang intothe water to help Biff out with his burden. He was pale, but strangelycool and collected. 

"Don't go at it that way!" he called to them savagely, knowing neitherfriend nor foe in this emergency. "Get her loosened up someway, can'tyou?"

Without waiting on them, Biff ripped a knife from his pocket, openedit and slit through waist and skirt-band and whatever else intervened, to her corset, which he opened with big fingers, the sudden deftnessof which was marvelous. Directing them with crisp, sharp commands, heguided them through the first steps toward resuscitation, and thenbegan the slow, careful pumping of the arms that should force breathback into the closed lungs. 

For twenty minutes, each of which seemed interminable, Jimmy and Biffworked, one on either side of her, Biff's face set, cold, expressionless, until at last there was a flutter of the eyelids, acry of distress as the lungs took up their interrupted function, thenthe sharp, hissing sound of the intake and outgo of natural, thoughlabored, breath; then Nellie Platt opened her big, brown eyes andgazed up into the gray ones of Biff Bates. She faintly smiled; thenBiff did a thing that he had never done before in his mature life. Hesuddenly broke down and cried aloud, sobbing in great sobs that shookhim from head to foot and that hurt him, as they tore from his throat, as the first breath of new life had hurt Nellie Platt; and, seeing andunderstanding, she raised up one weak arm and slipped it about hisneck. 

It was about a week after this occurrence when Silas Trimmer, comingback from lunch to attend the annual stock-holders' meeting of Trimmerand Company, stopped on the sidewalk to inspect, with some curiosity, a strange, boxlike-looking structure which leaned face downward uponthe edge of the curbing. It was three feet wide and full sixty feetlong. He stooped and tried to tilt it up, but it was too heavy for hisenfeebled frame, and with another curious glance at it he went intothe store. 

The meeting was set for half-past two. It was now scarcely two, andyet, when he opened the door of his private office, which had been setapart for that day's meeting, he was surprised at the number of peoplehe found in the room. A quick recognition of them mystified him themore. They were Bobby Burnit and Agnes, Johnson, Applerod andChalmers. 

"I came a little early, Mr. Trimmer, " said Bobby, in a politeconversational tone, "to have these three hundred shares transferredupon the books of Trimmer and Company, before the stock-holders'meeting convenes. "

"What shares are they?" inquired Silas in a voice grown strangelyshrill and metallic. 

"The stock that was previously controlled by your son-in-law, Mr. Clarence Smythe. Miss Elliston bought them last week from yourdaughter, with the full consent of your son-in-law. "

"The dog!" Trimmer managed to gasp, and his fingers clutchedconvulsively. 

"Possibly, " admitted Bobby dryly. "At any rate he has had to leavetown, and I do not think you will be bothered with him any more. Inthe meantime, Mr. Trimmer, I'd like to call your attention to a fewvery interesting figures. When you urged me, four years ago, toconsolidate the John Burnit and Trimmer and Company Stores, myfather's business was appraised at two hundred and sixty thousanddollars and yours at two hundred and forty. On your suggestion we tookin sixty thousand dollars of additional capital. I did not know asmuch at that time as I do now, and I let you sell this stock where youcould control it, virtually giving you three thousand shares to my twothousand six hundred. You froze me out, elected your own board, madeyourself manager at an enormous salary, and voted your son-in-lawanother one so ridiculous that it was put out of all possibility formy stock ever to yield any dividends. All right, Mr. Trimmer. With thepurchase of this three hundred shares I now control two thousand ninehundred shares and you two thousand seven hundred. I presume I don'tneed to tell you what is going to happen in today's meeting. "

To this Silas returned no answer. 

"I am an old man, " he muttered to himself as one suddenly stricken. "Iam an old, old man. "

"I am going to oust you, " continued Bobby, "and to oust all yourrelatives from their fat positions; and I am going to elect myself toeverything worth while. I have brought Mr. Johnson with me to inspectyour books, and Mr. Chalmers to take charge of certain legal mattersconnected with the concern immediately after the close of to-day'smeeting. I am going to restore Applerod to his position here fromwhich you so unceremoniously discharged him, and make Johnson generalmanager of this and all my affairs. I understand that your stock inthis concern is mortgaged, and that you will be utterly unable toredeem it. I intend to buy it and practically own the entire companymyself. Are there any questions you would like to ask, Mr. Trimmer?"

There was none. Silas, crushed and dazed and pitiable, only moanedthat he was an old man; that he was an old, old man. 

Bobby felt the gentle pressure of Agnes' hand upon his arm. There wasa moment of silence. 

Trimmer looked around at them piteously. Once more Bobby felt thattouch upon his sleeve. Understanding, he went over to Silas and tookhim gently by the arm. 

"Come over here to the window with me a minute, " said he, "and we willhave a little business talk. "

"Business! Oh, yes; business!" said Silas, brightening up at themention of the word. 

He rose nervously and allowed Bobby to lead him, bent and almostpalsied, over to the window, where they could look out on the busystreet below, and the roofs of the tall buildings, and the blue skybeyond where it smiled down upon the river. It was only a fleetingglance that Silas Trimmer cast at the familiar scene outside, andalmost immediately he turned to Bobby, clutching his coat sleeveeagerly. "You--you said something about business, " he half-whispered, and over his face there came a shadow of that old, shrewd look. 

"Why, yes, " replied Bobby uncomfortably. "I think we can find a placefor you, Mr. Trimmer. You have kept this concern up splendidly, nomatter how much beset you were outside, and--and I think Johnson willengage you, if you care for it, to look after certain details ofbuying and such matters as that. "

"Oh, yes, the buying, " agreed Silas, nodding his head. "I always was agood buyer--and a good seller, too!" and he chuckled. "About what doyou say, now, that my services would be worth?" and with the prospectof bartering more of his old self came back. 

"We'll make that satisfactory, I can assure you, " said Bobby. "Yoursalary will be a very liberal one, I am certain, and it will beginfrom to-day. First, however, you must have a good rest--a vacationwith pay, understand--and it will make you strong again. You are alittle run down. "

"Yes, " agreed Silas, nodding his head as the animation faded out ofhis eyes. "I'm getting old. I think, Mr. Burnit, if you don't mindI'll go into the little room there and lie on the couch for a fewminutes. "

"That is a good idea, " said Bobby. "You should be rested for themeeting. "

"Oh, yes, " repeated Silas, nodding his head sagely; "the meeting. "

They were uncomfortably silent when Bobby had returned from the littleroom adjoining. The shadow of tragedy lay upon them all, and it wasout of this shadow that Bobby spoke his determination. 

"I am going to get out of business, " he declared. "It is a hard, hardgame. I can win at it, but--well, I'd rather go back, if I only could, to my unsophistication of four years ago. I don't like business. Ofcourse, I'll keep this place for tradition's sake, and because itwould please my father--no, I mean it _will_ please him--but I'm goingto sell the _Bulletin_. I have an offer for it at an excellent profit. I'm going to intrust the management of the electric plant to my goodfriend Biff, here, with Chalmers and Johnson as starboard and larboardbulwarks, until the stock is quoted at a high enough rating to be aprofitable sale; then I'm going to turn it into money, and add it tothe original fund. I think I shall be busy enough just looking afterand enjoying my new partnership, " and he smiled down at Agnes, whosmiled back at him with a trusting admiration that needed no words toexpress. 

"Beg your pardon, sir, " said old Johnson, "but I have a letter herefor you, " and from his inside pocket he drew one of the familiarsteel-gray envelopes, which he handed to Bobby. 

It was addressed:

 _To My Son Bobby, Upon His Regaining His Father's Business_

The message inside was so brief that one who had not known well oldJohn Burnit would never have known the full, full heart out of whichhe penned it:

 "I knew you'd do it, dear boy. Whatever mystery I find in the great hereafter I shall be satisfied--for I knew you'd do it. "

That was all. 

"Johnson, " said Bobby, crumpling up the letter in his hand, andspeaking briskly to beat back his emotion, "we will move our officesto the same old quarters, and we will move back, for my use, myfather's old desk with my father's portrait hanging above it, just asthey were when Silas Trimmer ordered them removed. "

Two of the stock-holders came in at this moment, and Agnes went downinto the store to find Biff Bates and Nellie Platt, for there was muchshopping to do. Agnes had taken pretty Nellie under her chaperonage, and every day now the girls were busy with preparations for certainevents in which each was highly interested. 

Up in the office there was a meeting that was a shock to all thestock-holders but one, and after it was over Bobby joined theshoppers. When the four of them had clambered into Bobby's automobileand were rolling away, Bobby stopped his machine. 

"Look, " he said in calm triumph, and pointed upward, his hand claspinga smaller hand which was to rest contentedly in his through life. 

Over the Grand Street front of the building from which they hademerged, workmen were just raising a huge electric sign, and it borethe legend:

 THE JOHN BURNIT'S SON STORES

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