much money have you got?"

"I dunno. Figgers over a thousand dollars don't mean much to me."

Gray searched the speaker's face with a speculative gaze. "It's mostly
liquid, I presume." There was a pause. "I mean it's in cash or the
equivalent?"

"Oh, sure! These bonds an' stocks an' things--" Briskow shook his head
disapprovingly. "Land ain't any too safe, either. It's rainin' now, an'
it 'll keep on rainin' till the farmers is all drowned out. Next year
it'll be droughty an' fry 'em to a crisp. No, I'm skeered of land. I'm
skeered of everything!" This last was said plaintively. "Why, lookit
these Liberty bonds! Goin' down steady. I wouldn't put no money into
the gov'ment unless I had something to say about runnin' it. An' s'pose
I did? I wouldn't know how it oughta be run."

"How about oil properties? Wouldn't you like to invest in a good, safe
proposition, with the prospect of big--"

"Gosh, _no!_ I'm skeerder of oil than anything, 'cause I know somethin'
about it. Feller been tryin' to sell me life insurance, lately, but you
gotta die to get your money back. No; there's a catch in all them
propositions. Sometimes I wake up nights dreamin' we're all back at the
old place an' pore again. That ends my sleepin'. You see, Allie's a
lady now, an' she's used to silk stockin's, an' Buddy's been out in the
world spendin' money on women, an' Ma's gettin' old. I could go back to
corn bread, but it would kill them. Worst of it is, the black lime
ain't holdin' up, an' our wells will give out some day." Briskow sighed
heavily and his brows drew together in an anxious pucker.

"You'll have enough money in bank to do you."

"Banks bust. I tell you the hull world's full of skullduggery.
Suspicious? I should say I was! I use' to think if we had money our
troubles would be over, but--Lord, that's when they begin! You see, if
I was bright an' knew what slick people is up to, I'd be all right;
but--Why, I'm like a settin' hen. I can feel the eggs under me, but how
am I goin' to keep the skunks away when they smell the nest? I'm 'most
tempted to turn everything I got over to some honest man an' let him
han'le it. Some feller that had the savvy."

"Unfortunately, such people are rare."

"I don't know but one."

"Indeed? Who is he?"

"I reckon you know," said Briskow.

The listener looked up with quickened interest; there was a sharp ring
to his voice when he said: "Let me get this right."

"You're the only man I ever knowed