e paper will be on my hands?"

"Yes--on yours and on those of the other bondholders," he admitted
regretfully.

"A nice white elephant!" she cried.

His face brightened ever so slightly. "There's just a bare possibility
that we can sell it. Even if we got only a fraction of its worth it
would be better than nothing at all."

"Of course," she agreed. Her manner seemed to indicate that her thoughts
were far away.

"There is a group of men," he continued, "wealthy men, who have talked
more or less seriously of purchasing a newspaper that would give voice
to the conservative element. They feel that they would be doing a public
service in offsetting the demagoguery and sensationalism of most of the
popular press. I don't know how serious they are, or how much they are
prepared to spend. It's just a possibility. Still...."

"Who are these men?" asked Judith sharply.

"Well, there's Parker Ralston, and Anderson LeGore, and Henry Waring
and...."

"I see." There was a curious note in Judith's voice which Baker was
unable to explain, and she seemed to stare at something beyond and
behind him. The suggestion of someone else in the room was so strong
that he turned around. But all he saw was a pile of books on a chair.
They were too far away for him to note that one of them was severely
labelled "Proceedings of the Congressional Committee of Inquiry into the
Conditions Obtaining in the Algoma Mine Fields."

"If I was unwilling to sell out to those men," she said suddenly, "what
then?"

"You couldn't refuse. The sale would be held by the receiver, for the
benefit of the other bondholders as well as yourself. Besides, why
should you refuse even two cents on the dollar, when refusal would mean
nothing?"

She ignored his question. "Suppose I wanted to get possession of the
paper myself?"

"What in the world would you want it for?"

"Well, just for fun, let's suppose I did want it. How could I get it?"

"You could purchase the other bonds, and at the termination of the
receivership the paper would revert to you, unless you chose to sell."

"How long would that take?"

"About eighteen months."

"And if I wanted it immediately?"

"What are you talking about, my dear child?"

"Never mind that," she cried impatiently, "we're just supposing, you
know. The point is, how could I get it right away?"

"Well, you might purchase the paper from the present owners for a
nominal sum--merely assume their obligations. That wo