lace near the Texas
line."

"Well, well, but what has that got to do with Henley?" Welborne wanted
to know.

"It's just got this to do with him," answered Bradley. "Dick Wrinkle can
simply wrap the woman round his finger. She would fall on his neck at
the drop of a hat. If Dick came back she'd have a fit of joy and kick
Henley clean out of the house. I know women, and Dick has told me lots
about his hold on this one."

"But would he come back?"

"Would he? Humph! He's so homesick he thins his ink with brine when he
writes to me. He's known all along that she'd take 'im back, but there
wasn't any special inducement till now. I have an idea that when he is
told--and told in the right way--of this big haul of hers he'll come
back to life with some tale or other to square it, and hurry home and
claim his rights."

"And you want to start to-night?"

"If you'll get me the money. I've overdrawn my account like thunder,
uncle, but I'll not bother you for a while. Get it for me. I've got to
go."

The old man looked at the ground hesitatingly, then he shrugged his thin
shoulders. "Well, go ahead and pack. I've got that much in the safe at
the office. I'll meet you down there. But I'm going to count on you
to--to put this thing through."

"I will if I possibly can," Bradley said. "I think he'll do as I tell
him. He's always listened to me. I know how to work him up. Don't keep
me waiting. I'll pack in twenty minutes."

"Good Lord," the old man chuckled, as he stood alone in the dark. "If
Dick Wrinkle comes back and claims his wife, Alf Henley will take a
tumble from the highest peak he ever stood on. Won't I laugh at him
then? Say, won't I?"

CHAPTER XXXVI

The following Saturday afternoon Henley set out in his buggy to
accomplish, in some fashion or other, the disagreeable task of paying
his first visit to his wife in her new home. His chagrin could not be
imagined by any one less closely concerned in the affair than himself.
He had been taught to regard divorce laws as a veritable abomination,
and had never for an instant allowed himself to think of freedom from
shackles which goaded and chafed his body and soul. And now the
situation was even more irritating. His proud spirit rebelled against
the unlooked-for circumstances that had made him the husband of a
wealthy woman. Heretofore he had been able to realize that if he had
made a serious mistake in his marriage, he was, at least, helpful to the
woman