o better
pioneer blood in the State. Jim was the wild one. The others were as
steady as rocks. Their father and grandfather--your ancestors,
sir--helped to make this great State what it is. Their names will always
be honored in the annals of California. Terrible pity Jim and Hi got
away with so much. If they'd hung on as your mother and her mother did,
Miss Isabel would be one of the heiresses. But she seems able to take
care of herself, and with that face and form, I guess she can redeem her
fortunes any way she chooses. I hear that young Harry Hofer can't talk
of anything else."

Gwynne wondered if this were what the judge had come for, but
exonerated him, concluding that he was merely rambling on in the hope of
an opening.

"No doubt!" he said, heartily. "Miss Otis could marry any one she
pleased. One of the best titles in England was hers for the asking,
by-the-way. But like myself she is too good an American--shall I say
Californian?--to live anywhere but here. She is immensely successful
with her chickens, and we shall all make money on this new deal--I am
certain of that."

"No doubt, no doubt. Things are booming in San Francisco. You'll get a
huge rent from a building of that size--in time. Pity it has to be
divided among three of you. And there will be a big mortgage to pay off
first, I suppose; and it is in a very precarious district, a very
precarious district." And once more the twinkle retired and he gazed
dreamily at the fire.

"Oh, even golden apples have to ripen. And I have taken every precaution
against fires. Have some more whiskey, Judge."

"Don't care if I do." Gwynne knew that the Scotch scalded a throat
caressed these many years with the oily rye, and put as little seltzer
in it as he dared. But the judge sipped it heroically. Suddenly the
twinkle danced back to his eye as he turned it upon Gwynne.

"You can't delude me!" he cried. "You can't, sir. I know you intend to
go in for politics. Nothing else would ever satisfy your genius. Own up,
now."

"Well," said Gwynne, modestly. "I have thought of it. After my five
years are up, of course--makes one feel rather like a convict. Meanwhile
I can make some headway with the law: or, shall I say, build up a
reputation that may be useful to me when I am able to run for office."

"Ah! Just so! Great pity you were ever discharged from your American
indigenate. Then one year in California would settle the matter. Which
of our parties makes the str