enough to work out of petty spite to the complete
downfall of any who dared oppose his plans.

"Sit down, Mrs. Aydelot. As I said this mornin', it's too bad you can't go
back East now," Champers said seriously.

"We can." Virginia could not keep back the words.

Champers and Smith exchanged glances.

"No, mom, you can't, Mrs. Aydelot. Let me show you why."

He opened the drawer of his rickety desk and out of a mass of papers he
fished up a copy of the _Cincinnati Enquirer_, six weeks old. "Look at
this," and he thrust it into Virginia's hand.

The head-lines were large, but the story was brief. The failure of the
Cloverdale bank, the disappearance of the trusted cashier, the loss of
deposits--a story too common to need detail. Virginia Aydelot never knew
until that moment how much that reserve fund had really meant to her. She
had need of the inherited pride of the Thaines now.

"The papers are not always accurate," she said quietly.

"No, mom. But Mr. Smith here has interests in Cloverdale. He's just come
from there, and he says it's even worse than this states it."

Virginia looked toward Mr. Smith, who nodded assent.

"The failure is complete. Fortunately, I lost but little," he said.

"Why hasn't Mr. Aydelot been notified?" she demanded.

"It does seem queer he wasn't," Thomas Smith assented.

Something in his face made Virginia distrust him more than she distrusted
Darley Champers.

"Now, Mrs. Aydelot, seein' your last bridge is burned, I'm humane enough
to help you. You said this mornin' you wanted to get away. Mr. Smith and I
control some funds together, and he's willing to take Shirley's place and
I'll give you a reasonable figger, not quite so good as I could 'a done
previous to this calamity--but I'll take the Aydelot place off your
hands." Champers smiled triumphantly.

"The Aydelot place is not for sale. Good afternoon." And Virginia left the
office without more words.

When she was gone Champers turned to Smith with a growl.

"It's danged hard to turn agin a woman like her. What made you so
bitter?"

Smith half grinned and half snarled in reply:

"Oh, her neighbor, Shirley, you know."

Hopeless and crushed, Virginia sat down on the bench before the Wyker
House to wait for Juno to be brought to her from the stables. The
afternoon sun was beginning to creep under the roof shading the doorway.
Before her the dusty street ran into the dusty trail leading out to the
colorless west. It wa