a markedly humble person under ordinary conditions.
He had a fashion of pushing rather heedlessly straight to his
purpose--which now was to speak to her, to meet her face to face, to
touch her hand and to offer his aid. Naturally he sought the father's
acquaintance first. This was not difficult, for the waiters in the
dining-room had been pointing him out to the guests as "Mr. Clement,
the meyonaire minah." The newspaper correspondents had made his name a
familiar one to the whole United States as "one of the sudden
multi-millionaires of Gold Creek."

The porter had "passed the word" to the head waiter, and the head
waiter had whispered it to one or two others. It was almost as
exciting as having a Presidential candidate enter the room. Clement
was too new in his riches, however, to realize the extent of all this
bustle about him.

When he rose to go one waiter removed his chair, another helped him
lay his napkin down, a third brushed his coat, and the head usher
kindly showed him where the door opened into the hallway. It was
wonderful to Clement, but he laid it to the management of the hotel.

There were limits to his insanity, and he did not follow the girl out
on the veranda, but when Mr. Ross came down a few minutes later to get
a cigar Clement plucked the proprietor of the hotel by the arm.

"Introduce me to Mr. Ross, won't you?"

The landlord beamed. "Certainly, Mr. Clement." He took Mr. Ross by the
lapel familiarly. "Ah, good-morning, Mr. Ross. Mr. Ross, let me
introduce my friend, Mr. Clement; Mr. Clement you may have heard of as
the owner of 'The Witch' and the 'Old Wisconse.'"

Mr. Ross shook hands. He was not exactly uncivil, but he was
cool--very cool. "I have heard of Mr. Clement," he said. He softened a
little as he got a good look at the powerful, clear-eyed young fellow.

The landlord expanded like one who has accomplished a good deed. "I
thought so, I thought so. Mr. Clement, let me say, is a square
business man. Whatever he offers you is worth the price!" He winked at
Clement as he turned away.

Clement began, "I beg your pardon, Mr. Ross, for taking this liberty,
but I wanted to know you and took the first chance that offered. I
have no mine to sell--I want to know you--that's all. I wanted to meet
somebody outside the mining interest. I saw you and your daughter at
the pavilion last night. She seems to be not--very strong." He
hesitated in his attempt to describe his impression of her.