fashion, and went out of the room, leaving the gloom a little deeper
than before. It was so unusual for Barker to be the first to leave
anybody or anything in trouble that they both noticed it. "But for
that," said Demorest, turning to Stacy as the door closed, "I should say
the dear fellow was absolutely unchanged. But he seemed a little anxious
to-night."

"I shouldn't wonder. He's got two women on his mind,--as if one was not
enough."

"I don't understand. You say his wife is foolish, and this other"--

"Never mind that now," interrupted Stacy, getting up and putting down
his pipe. "Let's talk a little business. That other stuff will keep."

"By all means," said Demorest, with a smile, settling down into his
chair a little wearily, however. "I forgot business. And I forgot, my
dear Jim, to congratulate you. I've heard all about you, even in New
York. You're the man who, according to everybody, now holds the
finances of the Pacific Slope in his hands. And," he added, leaning
affectionately towards his old partner, "I don't know any one better
equipped in honesty, straightforwardness, and courage for such a
responsibility than you."

"I only wish," said Stacy, looking thoughtfully at Demorest, "that I
didn't hold nearly a million of your money included in the finances of
the Pacific Slope."

"Why," said the smiling Demorest, "as long as I am satisfied?"

"Because I am not. If you're satisfied, I'm a wretched idiot and not
fit for my position. Now, look here, Phil. When you wrote me to sell
out your shares in the Wheat Trust I was a little staggered. I knew your
gait, my boy, and I knew, too, that, while you didn't know enough to
trust your own opinions or feeling, you knew too much to trust any one's
opinion that wasn't first-class. So I reckoned you had the straight tip;
but I didn't see it. Now, I ought not to have been staggered if I was
fit for your confidence, or, if I was staggered, I ought to have had
enough confidence in myself not to mind you. See?"

"I admit your logic, old man," said Demorest, with an amused face, "but
I don't see your premises. WHEN did I tell you to sell out?"

"Two days ago. You wrote just after you arrived."

"I have never written to you since I arrived. I only telegraphed to you
to know where we should meet, and received your message to come here."

"You never wrote me from San Francisco?"

"Never."

Stacy looked concernedly at his friend. Was he in his right mind? He ha