t any more--and tell him I came here to ask him not to
have any against me."

"Yes, Mr. Lamb."

"Tell him I said----" The old man paused abruptly and Alice was
surprised, in a dull and tired way, when she saw that his lips had begun
to twitch and his eyelids to blink; but he recovered himself almost
at once, and continued: "I want him to remember, 'Forgive us our
transgressions, as we forgive those that transgress against us'; and if
he and I been transgressing against each other, why, tell him I think
it's time we QUIT such foolishness!"

He coughed again, smiled heartily upon her, and walked toward the door;
then turned back to her with an exclamation: "Well, if I ain't an old
fool!"

"What is it?" she asked.

"Why, I forgot what we were just talking about! Your father wants to
settle for Walter's deficit. Tell him we'll be glad to accept it; but
of course we don't expect him to clean the matter up until he's able to
talk business again."

Alice stared at him blankly enough for him to perceive that further
explanations were necessary. "It's like this," he said. "You see, if
your father decided to keep his works going over yonder, I don't say but
he might give us some little competition for a time, 'specially as he's
got the start on us and about ready for the market. Then I was figuring
we could use his plant--it's small, but it'd be to our benefit to have
the use of it--and he's got a lease on that big lot; it may come in
handy for us if we want to expand some. Well, I'd prefer to make a deal
with him as quietly as possible---no good in every Tom, Dick and Harry
hearing about things like this--but I figured he could sell out to me
for a little something more'n enough to cover the mortgage he put on
this house, and Walter's deficit, too--THAT don't amount to much
in dollars and cents. The way I figure it, I could offer him about
ninety-three hundred dollars as a total--or say ninety-three hundred and
fifty--and if he feels like accepting, why, I'll send a confidential man
up here with the papers soon's your father's able to look 'em over. You
tell him, will you, and ask him if he sees his way to accepting that
figure?"

"Yes," Alice said; and now her own lips twitched, while her eyes filled
so that she saw but a blurred image of the old man, who held out his
hand in parting. "I'll tell him. Thank you."

He shook her hand hastily. "Well, let's just keep it kind of quiet,"
he said, at the door. "No good in ev