I took my money out of the
firm. Lucky I did too. When the panic came I was safe."

"Let's see," says Zenobia, "Dick and the girl ran off and were married,
weren't they?"

"Yes," says Ballard. "It's in the blood, you see. They went to Paris, to
carry out one of Dick's great schemes. He had persuaded some of his
friends, big real estate dealers, to make him their foreign agent. His
idea was, I believe, to catch Western millionaires abroad and sell 'em
Fifth-ave. mansions. Actually did land one or two customers, I think.
But it was his wife's notion that turned out to be really
practical,--leasing French and Italian villas to rich Americans.
Something in that, you know, and if Dick had only stuck to it--but Dick
never could. He got in with some mine promoters, and after that nothing
would answer but that he must rush right back to Goldfield and look over
some properties that were for sale dirt cheap. As though Dick would have
been any wiser after he'd seen 'em! But his biggest piece of folly was
in taking the little boy along with him."

"What! Away from his mother?" says Martha.

"Just like Dick," says Ballard. "They couldn't both leave the leasing
business, and as she knew more about it than he did--well, that's the
way they settled it. He persuaded her it would be a fine thing for the
youngster. Huh! I came over on the same boat with them, and I want to
tell you that little chap simply owned the steamer! Bright? Why, he was
the cutest kid you ever saw,--red-headed, like his mother, and with his
father's laugh. Spent most of his time on the bridge with the first
officer, or down in the engine room with the chief. Dick never knew
where he was half the time.

"He was for taking the boy out into the mining country with him too. I
supposed he had until I got this frantic cable from Irene. They'd sent
her word about Dick's sudden end,--he always did have a weak heart, you
know,--and something about the high altitude got him. Went off like
that. But Irene was demanding of me to tell her where the boy was. Of
course I didn't know. I did my best to find him, hunted high and low. I
traced Dick to Goldfield. No use. The boy was not with him when he went
West. Where he had left him was a mystery that----"

Buz-z-z-z! goes the front doorbell, right in the middle of Mr. Ballard's
story, and in comes Lizzie sayin' it's someone to see me. For a second I
couldn't think who'd be huntin' me up here at this time of the evenin'.
And