e which was not lost to the appreciative and admiring
eyes of Mr. Hapgood. "Dr. Biggs says that papa's is a high-strung,
nervous disposition which at times makes the taking of--of a little
alcohol absolutely necessary. And that the--the stimulant is liable to
upset him. It is entirely a nervous trouble, and in a few days, with
perfect rest, he will be well again."

Mr. Hapgood nodded gravely, sympathetically.

"Mr. Truxton has been so great a factor in the reclamation project--he
has been the very heart and soul of the actual work done--that I
wonder how Mr. Crawford's schemes will get along without him?"

"I hope they fail," cried Jocelyn, hotly. "Papa has given the best in
him to help them, and look how they send him adrift when--when he
makes one little slip!"

"Do you know why Crawford really let him go?" Hapgood, speaking in
hushed tones, continued to eye her keenly. "Don't you know that
Crawford was just waiting and looking for an excuse--any excuse?"

Jocelyn turned widening eyes upon him. "What do you mean?"

Hapgood gave the impression of a man hesitating over a serious matter.
And then, with a sudden burst of something remarkably like ingenuous
ardor, he exclaimed:

"Why should I say anything? Perhaps I should keep my peace and let
matters take their own course. I have a distinctive dislike to
interfering in any way with the affairs of other people. And yet, Miss
Jocelyn, I feel so strong an interest in you--you will forgive me if
I have to speak plainly; you will pardon me when you know I mean no
offense?--that I cannot keep my peace." A momentary struggle between
his desire to befriend her and his dislike to say evil of others, and
then with vehement intensity, "I will _not_ remain silent."

Whereupon he became immediately silent and remained so until the
curiosity which he had fired urged him to go on.

"When Conniston left the Half Moon and went to work in the Valley
under your father"--leaning forward, his low-toned voice again deeply
confidential--"the whole plot was laid and perfected. He was to work
there until he had learned all that Mr. Truxton could teach him, until
the greater part of the work had been done, and then your father was
to be discharged so that Conniston could take his place. Yes, and so
that when the work was completed--the work which your own father had
made possible--Conniston would reap the rewards of it, take all the
honors."

He paused suddenly, and again his pale eye