hat SHALL I do?"

The handkerchief was in active operation. She swept past me to the door.
There she turned.

"I may forgive you some time, Mr. Paine," she sobbed. "I suppose I shall
have to. I can't do anything else. But don't ask me to do it now. That
would be TOO much!"

The door closed and I heard her sobs as she marched down the hall. To
say that I was amazed and decidedly uncomfortable would be a very mild
estimate of my feelings. Why should I expect her to forgive me? What had
I done? I--or luck and I together--had saved one of her husband's stock
speculations from ending in smash; but that was no injury for which I
should beg forgiveness. At least I could not see that it was.

Colton looked after her with a troubled expression.

"Nerves are the devil, aren't they," he observed. "And nerves and a
woman together are worse than that. My wife, Paine, is--well, she hasn't
been in good health for a long time and Mabel and I have done our best
to give her her own way. When you've had your own way for years it
rather hurts to be checkmated. I know that from experience. She'll feel
better about it by and by."

"Better about what?" I demanded, involuntarily. "I don't understand Mrs.
Colton's meaning in the least."

He looked at me keenly for a moment without speaking.

"Don't you?" he asked. "You are sure you don't?"

"Certainly I am sure. What I have done that requires forgiveness I don't
see."

Another pause and more scrutiny.

"So you don't understand what she means, hey?" he said again. "All
right, all right! We won't discuss that yet a while. If you don't
understand--never mind. Time enough for us to talk of that when you do.
But, say, Paine," with one of his dry smiles, "who taught you to buck a
stock pool?"

This question I could understand. I had expected this.

"No one taught me," I answered. "If I had any knowledge at all in that
direction I was born with it, I guess. A form of original sin."

"It's a mighty profitable sort of wickedness--for me. Young man, do you
realize what you did? How do you expect me to thank you for that, hey?"

"I don't expect you to thank me at all. It was bull luck that won for
you, Mr. Colton. Bull luck and desperation on my part. Miss Colton sent
for me to help her. Your confidential man, Davis, refused to make a move
without orders from you. You couldn't give any orders. Someone had to do
something, or, so it seemed to your daughter and me, your Louisville and
Tra