es--"

"True! True! Pity your parents didn't lose you. But everything turns
out for the best. Meanwhile, you can make name and fortune as a
corporation lawyer. And you can't have too much money in this world,
sir. You can't have too much money in this world."

It was on the tip of Gwynne's tongue to ask him bluntly what corporation
he had in mind, but not only did his already boiling humor recoil from
the indignity of a deliberately worded bribe, but he doubted if it would
be proffered so early in the game. He had a very clever man to deal
with; it was not likely he would make the mistake of a direct approach.
Gwynne flattered himself that he looked as ingenuous as Tom Colton, but
as he had seen through the complacent judge, it was possible that the
judge might entertain suspicions of a man with his reputation. He was
glad he had not spoken when his visitor rose abruptly to his feet.

"Bless my soul!" he exclaimed. "I shall miss my train if I don't hurry.
And heaven forbid that I spend another night in this mud-hole. My
address is on my card--when do you come down again?"

"There is a lecture at Berkeley on Wednesday--"

"Good! Now, you will dine with me next Wednesday night--and I hope on
many other nights. We must have several long talks--and all about your
future, young man. I am too old to talk about my own, but I remember
what I was at your age. Tactful, hey? But no," dropping his voice
gravely. "I want to help you. And I can. Whatever branch of the law you
specialize upon, you must leave Rosewater and come to San Francisco. I
can place you in an office--even should you decide upon general
practice--that will carry you swifter and further than our reform friend
can, because he is playing a losing game--a losing game, sir. But we'll
talk of all that later. I must hasten."

Gwynne escorted him to the head of the staircase, where he resisted an
impulse to kick him down, then, after a hasty glance into the
dictionary, encased himself in rubber and went up the hill to the home
of Judge Leslie. He was to dine there, and it was but a quarter-past
four, but what he had to say and ask would not keep for an hour and
three-quarters.

IV

On his way to the house he decided that he could not confide even to
Judge Leslie that he had been singled out as likely spoil by the
"grafters." No doubt that in a way it was a compliment to his abilities,
this early-conceived determination to whisk him out of the reform fie