utely, and he determined to spare her.

"You must stop now, Barbara," he said in a caressing tone. "You are
overwrought. I will hear the rest another time--when you feel stronger
and send for me. I am going to say good-night now, so that you may rest.
But before I go I want to say that nothing you have told me can make the
least difference in my feelings, or my desires, or my purposes. You
_are_ what you _are_. Nothing else matters. When you feel strong
enough, I will come again and persuade you to be my wife. Good-night!"

As she stood facing him, with unutterable distress in every line of her
face, he leaned forward impulsively, but with extreme gentleness, and
reverently kissed her.

XXV

TEMPLE AND TANDY

On the morning after his consultation with Captain Will Hallam, Richard
Temple had his first interview with Tandy. Jewett, the hotel proprietor,
walked with him to the X National Bank, took him into the bank parlor,
and introduced him to the president, intimating that he would probably
wish to do some business with the bank, and assuring Tandy that the
young man was "as square as they make 'em."

Tandy welcomed the visitor cordially, and when Jewett had bowed himself
out, Temple opened negotiations, very cautiously and with every seeming
of indecision, as to what he might ultimately decide to do.

"I have a little money, Mr. Tandy, that I may want to invest. I'm rather
a stranger in Cairo. I wonder if you, as a banker, would mind advising
me. Of course, if I make any investments, I shall do so through your
bank."

"It is my business to advise investors, Mr. Temple, and in your case it
is also a pleasure, if I may be permitted to say so. What are your
ideas--in a general way, I mean?"

"It would be somewhat difficult for me to----"

"Oh, I quite understand. You haven't yet made up your mind. You want to
look about you, eh? Well, that's right. There's more harm done by haste
in making investments than by anything else. There are lots of 'cats and
dogs' on the market. Of course they're a good buy sometimes, if a man
wants to take long chances for the sake of big profits, and if he is in
a position to watch the market. But it's awfully risky. Still----"

Tandy hesitated and did not complete his sentence for a time. He was
wondering just "how much of a sucker" this young man might be. Tandy
himself held some small blocks of securities which might very properly
be reckoned in the feline and canine cl