secretary with considerable expectancy.

He was not disappointed; a glance at their faces revealed that the
subjects under discussion had not been pleasant. Mr. Blaisdell's face
was white, and set in hard, determined lines, while that of his
companion was flushed with anger, and his cunning, crafty eyes were
full of suspicion, as they glanced repeatedly in Houston's direction.

"Mr. Parsons," said Mr. Blaisdell, "we will have to ask you to excuse
Mr. Houston, as we have a little business with him, and if you will
step over there in the office and sit down, we will have completed our
business in half or three-quarters of an hour; by that time the team
will be here, in readiness to take us to the train."

After a few moments of desultory conversation about the work which
Houston knew to be only preliminary, during which Mr. Rivers moved
about in a nervous, restless manner, Mr. Blaisdell said:

"Mr. Houston, we hear some rather strange reports concerning your
conduct lately; your actions have certainly been highly censurable,
and the least that can be said is that you have exceeded your
authority here in a very marked degree."

"In what respect have I exceeded my authority?" demanded Houston,
folding his arms, with an expression on his face that made the
general manager regret that he had begun the encounter; but it was too
late to retreat, besides, Rivers was watching him!

"In your manner of discharging the duties assigned to you; you have
taken advantage of your position in the most reprehensible and
unworthy way, and have overstepped the bounds when you had no right
whatever to do so."

"I shall have to ask you to be a little more explicit, Mr. Blaisdell,"
Houston replied.

"Why don't you come to the point, Blaisdell?" said Rivers impatiently.
"What's the use of beating about the bush? The long and the short of
it is just this," he added, turning to Houston, "you have been taking
upon yourself what did not concern you, prying around, late at night,
in mines with which you had nothing whatever to do, in company with
miners who had no more business there than you had."

"To what mine do you refer?" asked Houston, with exasperating
persistency.

"I mean the Lucky Chance, and you know it," retorted Rivers angrily.

"Mr. Rivers," said Houston, in a tone that Blaisdell had heard on a
former occasion, and with a steel-like glitter in his eyes that was
anything but attractive to either of the gentlemen present; "