did not have the opportunity. Waiting in the
lobby of the hotel when he returned, he found Barney Baldwin, who
accosted him.

"You're McCarthy, the fellow my niece, Miss Baldwin, introduced me to,
aren't you?" he asked pompously, pretending to be uncertain of the
identity.

"Yes."

"Well, young fellow, I want to have a quiet little talk with you. Come
up to my room at the Metropolis as soon as you get dressed. It's
important."

They talked for a few minutes and McCarthy promised to come to the
Metropolis after dinner. He hastened to his room, and to his
disappointment found that Swanson had dressed hastily and already was
gone. Nor did the big Swede come to dinner, and McCarthy was compelled
to leave the hotel without seeing him in order to keep his engagement
with Baldwin.

He was ushered into a pretentious apartment in the Metropolis, where
Baldwin was awaiting him, with a bottle of wine in the cooler at the
side of the table and a box of choice cigars at hand.

"Sit down, my boy, sit down," urged Baldwin cordially. "Have a drink
and a cigar."

"Thanks--I'll smoke. I'm not drinking," said McCarthy quietly. "You
wanted to see me?"

"Yes. You see I called Helen up over the long distance to-day and had
quite a talk with her about you. She dropped a few hints before she
left and I wanted to hear more of you."

"Then she told you who I am?"

"She told me you were a young man of good family and that you were
playing under an assumed name--but, of course, having promised, she
wouldn't tell more."

"Now, I know how it is. You're in some trouble at home and just
bull-headed enough to refuse to give in. I admire you for it, my
boy--but it is youthful folly. Helen tells me she was engaged to you,
but broke off the engagement because you wouldn't go back home and quit
baseball. Now I want to see the thing in the right light. You come
and run down to my summer place with me to-morrow, spend a week or two
there with Helen, get things straightened out, and meanwhile I'll act
as peacemaker and fix things up so you can go home and eat the fatted
calf."

"You've tackled a tough job," said McCarthy, grinning in spite of
himself at the mental picture of his uncle receiving overtures in his
behalf from Barney Baldwin, his bitterest enemy.

"I'm certain it is a mere trifle when looked at in the right light,"
urged Baldwin. "I can explain things. I'll wire your people that you
are visiting with us, and w