in "Bob's"
tone, but as the meaning of Gray's ardent gaze struck home to her, she
turned her head with a lightly affected laugh. She was coloring, but
she knew that her companion's agitation was so much greater than hers
that he did not notice it.

"Fair lady," he said, a bit uncertainly, "you multiply my courage
tenfold, and I shall retain the guerdon of your faith. But we
swashbuckling fellows are proud; we must come as victors or not at all,
and I am anything but victorious, yet. I've had many a fall, and my
armor is dented in a dozen places. I have a record of failures that
only a lasting success can wipe out. When, if ever, that record is
wiped out, why--my tongue shall be my heart's ambassador." This was the
boldest speech that Gray had ever permitted himself.

Never had he felt "Bob" to be so close to him as on this day, and in
consequence he made of it a festival. He played the lover with a
respectful ardor, doubly thrilling by reason of its restraint, and that
night it was not Henry Nelson's face that lingered last in his memory.
He wondered, before he fell asleep, if he had acted wisely in letting
slip his hour. Opportunity has a fickle way of jilting those who ignore
her, and yet--how could he speak with honor to himself?

It must not be inferred that Henry Nelson endured with patience the
blows that were rained upon him. On the contrary, he fought back with
every weapon he could lay hands upon, and there were many. In this he
was aided by Old Bell, for father and son were much alike and their
friction had been only such as results from the rubbing of two hard
bodies of identical composition; now that they were put under heavy
pressure, they adhered and functioned without heat.

They were handicapped, however, in that they had the bank to think
about, and, in times of frenzied finance such as this, a banking
business is more of a liability than an asset. Under normal conditions
no single individual of Gray's limited resources could have caused them
more than temporary annoyance; but in the midst of a speculative
frenzy, in a time of vast "paper profits" and overnight losses, at an
hour when they themselves were overextended and the financial fabric of
the whole oil industry was stretched to a point of inflation where a
pin prick was apt to cause complete collapse, the feat of warding off a
lance in the hands of a destructive enemy was one that kept them in a
constant state of nervous panic.

To make mat