office desk for fourteen hours out of the twenty-four, for fourteen
years at a stretch, if it ensured success at the end--a big success, a
success which left me head and shoulders above the ruck. I'd walk the
world barefooted from one end to the other to gain a secret that was
worth while. Success is my god. To gain it I would sacrifice
everything else."

"Then, of a certainty, it can be yours," said Mrs Ingram quietly, and
she looked at him with such a gentle glance that he asked her a laughing
question: "Are you going to call me `poor child!' too?"

"Not yet," she said quietly. Then she turned to the big man, and laid a
hand on his arm. "You next, Frank?"

"Oh, well!" he laughed good-humouredly yet with a tinge of
embarrassment. "I didn't bargain for this confession business, but
since it's the rule, I must follow suit, I suppose. I'm a commonplace
beggar! I'm pretty well content with things as they come. I'm not keen
on any adventures that I know of; if I can have enough to be
comfortable, that's all I want. I'd like a nice wife, and a house with
a bit of garden; and a youngster or two, and a runabout car, don't you
know, and the usual accessories! That's about all I fancy. `Man wants
but little here below.'"

"Frank plumps for comfort," said Mrs Ingram, smiling. "His programme
sounds distinctly restful, for a change. Take care of your figure,
Frank! I should suggest mowing the garden as a helpful recreation.
Next, please! Claudia!"

"Oh, money, please!" cried Claudia eagerly. "_Lots_ of money, and a
safe full of jewels. Do you know, I dress on forty pounds a year all
told, and a rich cousin sends me cast-offs! I take them hungrily, but I
hate her for it, and when I'm a millionaire I'll cut her dead. A German
Jew stock-broker, dear, or a Maharajah of `something-core,' or a
soap-boiler without h's--anyone will do if he has enough money! I'd
rather not, of course, but it's the only way! Dear people, will you
_all_ come to my wedding?"

"Claudia, you are impossible! You ought to be ashamed!"

"Yes, I should, but I'm not! Isn't it horrid of me? If I blow _very_
loudly, do you think I shall go off this season?"

"Claudia speaks in her usual highly coloured fashion, but there's no
doubt about her aim. She wants money, and, incidentally, all that it
can buy.--Adventure. Success. Comfort. Money. We are getting plenty
of variety! Rupert, what are you going to give us?"

The man with t