se did he take her away?'

"'If I was you,' he said, looking at me hard, 'I'd make sure of
that--before.'

"That worried me a good deal, and I went out and walked around, and then
I went to the station and bought a ticket for Chicago, and I said to
myself: 'I'll go and see him'; for by that time I'd made up my mind what
I'd do.

"And when I got there the next morning, I went straight to his house,
and my heart sank, for it was a great place with a high iron railing all
around it and a footman at the door--and I began to understand why Fanny
Montrose had left me for him.

"I'd thought a long time about giving another name; but I said to
myself: 'No, I'll him a chance first to come down and face me like a
man,' so I said to the footman: 'Go tell Paul Bargee that Larry Moore
has come to see him.'

"Then I went down the hall and into the great parlor, all hung with
draperies, and I looked at myself in the mirrors and looked at the
chairs, and I didn't feel like sitting down, and presently the curtains
opened, and Paul Bargee stepped into the room. I looked at him once, and
then I looked at the floor, and my breath came hard. Then he stepped up
to me and stopped and said:

"'Well?'

"And though he had wronged me and wrecked my life, I couldn't help
admiring his grit; for the boy was no match for me, and he knew it too,
though he never flinched.

"'I've come from New York here to talk with you, Paul Bargee,' I said.

"'You've a right to.'

"'I have,' I said, 'and I want to have an understanding with you now, if
you have the time, sir,' I said, and looked at the ground again.

"He drew off, and hearing me speak so low he mistook me as others have
done before, and he looked at me hard and said: 'Well, how much?'

"My head went up, and I strode at him; but he never winced--if he had, I
think I'd have caught him then and there and served him as I did Bill
Coogan. But I stopped and said: 'That's the second mistake you've made,
Paul Bargee; the first was when you sent a dirty little lawyer to pay me
for taking my wife. And your lawyer came to me and told me to screw you
to the last cent. I kicked him out of my sight; and what have you to say
why I shouldn't do the same to you, Paul Bargee?'

"He looked white and hurt in his pride, and said: 'You're right; and I
beg your pardon, Mr. Moore.'

"'I don't want your pardon,' I said, 'and I won't sit down in your
house, and we won't discuss what has happened but what is