suppose they are paintings of celebrated individuals--kings,
queens, and like that?" was Dave's comment.

"No, these miniatures, so father stated, are made up almost
entirely of the great fighters of the world--army and navy men,
lieutenant-generals, admirals, and officers like that."

"Well, where in the world did this Mr. Enos get money enough to buy
such things?" asked Jessie, who had followed Laura into the room.

"That's the queer part of it," answered the real-estate dealer's son.
"It seems, after Mr. Enos and my father gave up business and
separated, Enos went South--first to Texas and then into Mexico. There
he joined some men who were opening up a gold mine. These men struck
it rich, and almost before he knew it Mr. Enos was worth quite a lot
of money. He had never been very much of a business man--being wrapped
up almost entirely in art--and so he did not know how to handle his
money. He had always had a liking for miniatures, so my father stated,
and he went in to gather this collection. He didn't want any kings or
queens or noted society women, or anything like that, but he did want
every miniature ever painted of an army or a navy fighter. Of course,
my father doesn't know all the particulars yet, but he has learned
that Mr. Enos put himself out a great deal to get hold of certain
miniatures, hunting for them all over Europe and also in this
country. He even went down to South America to get miniatures of some
of their heroes, and also picked up several in Mexico, and one or two
in Texas."

"His hobby must certainly have had a strong hold on him," was Dave's
comment. "But still, that sort of thing isn't unusual. I heard once of
a postage-stamp collector who went all over the world collecting
stamps, and finally gave up his last dollar for a rare stamp when he
actually hadn't enough to eat. Of course, he was a monomaniac on the
subject of stamp collecting."

"Well, my father has an idea that Mr. Enos must have been a little
queer over his miniature collecting," returned Ben. "But even so, the
fact remains that he left his collection of miniatures behind him, and
that they are now the property of my father."

"And what is your father going to do with them?" questioned Roger.

"He doesn't know yet. You see, the settling of the estate is in a very
mixed-up condition. He is going to stay in Chicago for a week or so,
and then he'll probably bring the miniatures East with him and have
some art expert place