mply commercial standpoint--they do. I don't include
your father with them! I only wish I could reflect the spirit of my
father's wishes and hopes as perfectly as he does."

"Mr. March, don't men sometimes go into such enterprises as yours simply
to plunder and ruin those that go in honestly with them?"

"Oh, undoubtedly. You see, in this case----"

"Mr. March----"

"Yes, Miss Barb----"

"I believe certain men are in your company with that intention."

"But you don't know it, do you? Else you would naturally tell your
father instead of me. You only----" He hesitated,

"I only see it."

"Oh--oh! have you no other evidence--only an intuition?"

"Yes, I have other evidence."

"Ah!" laughed John. "You've got higher cards, have you?"

Her eyes softly brightened in response to his. The next instant the hand
in his arm awoke, but lay very still, as four men passed, solemnly
raised their silk hats to March, and disappeared around a corner. They
were the commercial travelers!

Her hand left his arm to brush something from her opposite shoulder, and
did not return, but hid somewhere in her wrap, tingling with a little
anguish all its own, in the realization that discovery is almost the
only road to repentance. At the same time it could hear, so to speak,
its owner telling, with something between a timorous courage and a calm
diffidence, how, in Suez, she had drawn out a business man, unnamed, but
well approved and quite disinterested, to say that she might tell Mr.
March that, in his conviction, unless he got rid of certain
persons--etc.

"I can tell you who it was, if you care to know. He said I might."

"No," said John, thoughtfully. "Never mind." And they heard their own
footsteps for full two minutes. Then he said, "Miss Barb, suppose he is
disinterested and sincere. Say he were my best friend. The thing's a
simple matter of arithmetic. So long as your father and Jeff-Jack and I
hang together there are not enough votes in the company to do anything
we don't want done. I admit we've given some comparative strangers a
strong foothold; but your father trusts them, and, if need be, can watch
them. Does anybody know men better than Jeff-Jack does? But he knew just
what we were doing when he consented to take charge of the three
counties' interests; however, I admit that doesn't prove anything, Miss
Barb, I know who said what you've told me, and I esteem and honor and
love him as much as you do--wait, please. O smi