nd then where did you go?" The lawyer made rapid notes as he quizzed
her, and Billie stared in growing wonder.

"Oh, we just traveled. I can recall a lot of places, but not their
names; mining camps, and cattle towns and farming centers. Then we
came here, when the boom first started, and Dad built the Blue Chip----"

The lawyer nodded as she faltered.

"That will do, I think. We can go into the details more exhaustively
later, but I am convinced that you are indeed the young woman in the
case. But first, can you tell me anything of your mother?"

"Dad said she died a long time ago." Billie's voice was very low. "I
don't remember her at all, unless----"

"Unless what?" North urged her, not unkindly. "Think, please."

"It seems to me there was someone, when I was very little, who sang
always. There was one song; I should know it again if I heard it, but
it won't come to me now."

"Aha!" The lawyer cleared his throat. "That confirms it. I am going
to tell you, and your good friend here, a story. It goes rather far
back, but I shall ask you to be patient for it concerns you vitally.
Some twenty years ago there lived in New York City a noted financier,
Giles Murdaugh. You do not recall having heard the name?"

Billie shook her head mutely and North went on:

"Giles Murdaugh was a very wealthy man, a power in the world of
finance. He was a widower and his only living relatives were his son,
Ralph, and a niece. At the time I mention, Ralph was a young man, just
out of college. He fell in love with a--a young person who was not his
equal socially; in fact, she earned her living by singing and dancing
upon the stage of a music-hall. She was a most respectable, most
exemplary young woman," he added hastily, "but Giles Murdaugh was
violently opposed to the union. Her name was Violet Ashton."

He paused, but the girl before him made no sign.

"Young Ralph Murdaugh married her, and his father disowned him. The
boy had no income of his own, no profession, and his father's influence
prevented his obtaining any remunerative position. He was very bitter,
and hoped to starve his son into submission and force an annulment of
what he considered a disgraceful marriage, but Ralph was as determined
as his father.

"The young couple left New York finally and went out West to make their
way, but it was a most disheartening experience. Giles Murdaugh's
influence was far-reaching and all doors were closed to th