ilt on would not hold him. Money--men
envied the rich nowadays, he said, and the rich man had no rights in
the courts or out of them; friends--they had gone up in the market,
and he could not afford them; politics--he had found it a quicksand.
So he jabbered to Neal Ward, his secretary, and pulled down the
curtains of his car on the station side of every stop the train made
in its long day's journey.

CHAPTER XXIV

It was nearly midnight when the special train pulled into Sycamore
Ridge, and Neal Ward hurried home. He went to his room, and found
there a letter and a package, both addressed in Jeanette's
handwriting. The letter was only a note that read:--

"MY DEAREST BOY: I could not wait to send it for your Christmas
present. So I am sending it the very day it is finished. I hope it
will bring me close to you--into your very heart and keep me there.
I have kissed it--for I knew that you would.

"Your loving JEANETTE."

He tore open the package and found a miniature of Jeanette done on
ivory--that seemed to bring her into the room, and illumine it with
her presence. The thing bloomed with life, and his heart bounded with
joy as his eyes drank the beauty of it. His father called from below
stairs, and the youth went down holding the note and the miniature in
his hands. Before the father could speak, the son held out the
picture, and Philemon Ward looked for a moment into the glowing
faces--that of the picture and that of the living soul before him,
and hesitated before speaking.

"I got your wire--" he began.

"But isn't it beautiful, father--wonderful!" broke in the son.

The father assented kindly and then continued: "So I thought I'd sit
up for you. I had to talk with you." The son's face looked an
interrogation, and the father answered, "Read that, Neal--" handing
his son a letter in a rich linen envelope bearing in the corner the
indication that it was written at the Army and Navy Club in
Washington. The lovely face in the miniature lay on the table between
them and smiled up impartially at father and son as the young man drew
out the letter and read:--

"MY DEAR GENERAL WARD: This letter will introduce to you Mr. H. S.
Smith, an inspector from the Bureau of Commerce and Labour, who has
been working upon evidence connected with the National Provisions
Company. I happened to be at luncheon this afternoon with a man of
the highest official authority, whose n