go
on living with a woman for a stepmother who--who had even contemplated
such things, although she did it for the benefit of her own boy.
But--fight for him. And get him away from--unfortunate influence if you
can. Or you'll be losing for the Empire an otherwise good little
citizen. There's no doubt about the presence of the uncle now--with that
whisky-still business on hand, and that's what brought the two men
together, no doubt. But get this boy clear of it all. Try a public
school where his _moral_ outlook will be as well cared for as his
physical, and--get him there _quick_.

"Good-bye, Cyril--shake hands, won't you? And you might write a line to
me now and then, to let me know how you're getting on. I'd have had a
boy of your age myself, no doubt, if--if I hadn't made a fool of myself
earlier in life, and I've got to make up for it now. But it makes me
rather soft for youngsters. Good-bye, Sir Ross, and good luck. Clear out
of this ill-fated inheritance for a time, until things blow over. You'll
find there'll be a different aspect of affairs when you come back with
your vision cleared. Mr. Narkom, come along. At least we've beaten the
Coroner at his own business, and that's always a feather in a
policeman's cap, eh, old friend?"

And, so speaking, he passed out of that house of discord, which,
however, he was to visit later, many times, as friend and confidant of
the new owner of it, out into the clear sunshine of an early noon, and
the paths that lay ahead.

THE END

Popular Copyright Novels

AT MODERATE PRICES

Ask Your Dealer for a Complete List of

A. L. Burt Company's Popular Copyright Fiction

* * * * *

=Adventures of Jimmie Dale, The.= By Frank L. Packard.
=Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.= By A. Conan Doyle.
=Affinities, and Other Stories.= By Mary Roberts Rinehart.
=After House, The.= By Mary Roberts Rinehart.
=Against the Winds.= By Kate Jordan.
=Ailsa Paige.= By Robert W. Chambers.
=Also Ran.= By Mrs. Baillie Reynolds.
=Amateur Gentleman, The.= By Jeffery Farnol.
=Anderson Crow, Detective.= By George Barr McCutcheon.
=Anna, the Adventuress.= By E. Phillips Oppenheim.
=Anne's House of Dreams.= By L. M. Montgomery.
=Anybody But Anne.= By Carolyn Wells.
=Are All Men Alike, and The Lost Titian.= By Arthur Stringer.
=Around Old Chester.= By Margaret Deland.
=Ashton-Kirk, Criminologist.= By John T. Mclntyre.
=Ashton-Kirk, I