emy,
but immediately took courage. Though Marvin's death had left the
secretary no legacy it had also robbed the blackmailer of his power.

Hicks advanced with what he intended to be a winning smile and extended
a hot, fat hand.

"I see the old man has croaked and I was just dropping in to talk
business," Hicks's newsboy voice growled out.

"Hicks," said Owen, keeping his hand in his pocket, "if you came here
to get your money out of the legacy old man Marvin was to leave me.
Well, you won't get it and you never will get it. Marvin didn't leave
me a cent, so there is nothing for you to get. He did leave me a job
in his will, a job that will last for a year, and neither you nor any
one else can force me out of that job. You can't blackmail me any
more."

"At the end of the year what becomes of you?" asked Hicks.

"Then I get a position somewhere else; but that is none of your
business."

"You don't want a position, Owen. A position calls for work. You
don't like hard work any more then I do. You can't stand work much
longer, either. Look at your eyes and your skin, how many grains do
you take a day, anyway?"

"I haven't touched a grain of morphine in six months," lied Owen. "But
get out of my way--you can't get anything out of me and you can't
blackmail me. If you come to this house again I'll have you thrown
out."

"Just a minute," said Hicks, as pleasantly as he could, straining his
coarse features into the unaccustomed position of a smile. "I didn't
come to get money out of you. I know all about the will. What I came
for was to help you and give you a tip. You and I can make a lot of
easy money together. You've got the opportunity and I've got the
brains. Now, to show you I'm your friend, look at this!"

Hicks handed him a paper which Owen read with surprise. It was a
receipt in full for all Owen owed. Owen put it in his pocket.

"That's right, keep it. You and I are going to be so rich before long
that a matter of a thousand or two wouldn't be worth talking about
between friends."

Owen had been under the thumb of this man, had feared and hated him and
hoped for the day when he might sneer in his face and defy him. This
was the time, and yet he felt Hicks had something to offer. He was in
temporary charge of millions. There should be, there must be, some way
to make this control permanent or else to delve into these millions
while they were in his care. As Hicks hinted, this was