see," he remarked. "Permit me
to walk with you a little way."

Virginia hesitated for a moment.

"I have a little more shopping to do," she said. "I was not going home
just yet."

Mr. Weiss, however, was already leading her across the street.

"My dear young lady," he said, "I have something very important to say
to you. I am sure you will not mind going back to the house with me now
and continuing your walk afterwards. It is in your uncle's interests as
much as my own."

She allowed herself to be led along, and when they had reached the other
side of the Avenue, Stephen Weiss, speaking earnestly, and stooping a
little towards her, commenced his explanation.

"Your uncle," he said, "and three or four of us whom you met last night,
are engaged just now in a very important undertaking. I cannot explain
it to you, but it involves a great many millions of dollars, more than
we could any of us afford to lose, although, as you know, we are none of
us poor men. Now we can carry this thing right through without bothering
your uncle, and make a success of it, but there is just one thing we
must have, and that is a paper which he has locked away in his study,
and which is a sort of key to the situation. I spoke to your uncle about
it last night over the telephone, and he agreed to have it ready for me
when I called this morning. I could not find any one at the house,
however, who had received instructions about it, so I concluded that he
had perhaps left word with you."

"No!" she answered, "he has not told me anything."

"Miss Longworth," he continued, laying his hand for a moment upon her
arm, "you know from what your uncle said last night that we are all
practically his partners. Now in his interests and all of ours, and
naturally therefore in yours, we must have that paper. When we get home,
just step into your uncle's room and say one sentence to him. Say that I
am downstairs. He will know what I want, and I am sure he will tell you
to give it to me. I hate to have to bother him just now, but I can
assure you that it would do him a good deal more harm just when he is
pulling round, to find that we were all on the wrong side of things,
than to have just one sentence breathed into his ear now."

Virginia seemed to hesitate.

"The doctor's orders," she remarked, "were very strict. I am sure I
don't know what to say."

"Doctors," Mr. Weiss said, "are all very well, but they do not know
everything. Just those few wo