s gently
upon 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 want
to 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 strong
and so good, and already through the past year of earnest purpose
there had come firm, new lines upon his face, lines that meant
something in the ultimate building of character; and she recognized
that 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 over
advertisements and writing down long lists of suggested enterprises
for investigation, enterprises which proved in every case to be in the
midst of an already too thickly contested field, or to be hampered by
monopoly, or subject to some other vital drawback. There seemed to be
a strange dearth of safe and suitable commercial ventures, a fact over
which Bobby and Agnes together puzzled almost nightly. There was to be
no false start this time; no stumbling in the middle of the race; no
third failure. The third time was to be the charm. And yet too much
time must not be wasted. They both began to feel rather worried about
this.

Of course, there was a letter, in the familiar gray envelope. It had
been handed to Bobby by Johnson upon the day the second check for two
hundred 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 dolla