cle that a trolley coal road hasn't been built already. And think,
too, of the prestige our family will get out of it. We've always been
the only people in Montgomery that had any 'git up and git.' You don't
want to forget that your name Holton is an asset--an asset! Why, over
in Indianapolis the fact that I'm one of the Montgomery Holtons helps me
over a lot of hard places, I can tell you. Of course, father had plowed
the ground, and the more I hear about him the more I admire him. He had
vision--he saw things ahead."

"And he came pretty near dying busted," observed Fred.

"But no man lost a cent through him!" Charles flashed. "That makes me
swell up with pride every time I think of it--that he took care of his
friends. He saw things big, and those Mexican schemes were all right. If
he'd lived, they would have pulled through and been big moneymakers."

They had been walking slowly towards Charles's machine.

"I'm not saying anything against father," said Fred; "but the kind of
things he took up strike me as dangerous. I know all about that
plantation and the mine, too, for that matter. I don't blame father for
sending me down there, but I wish I had back the years I put on those
jobs."

"Oh, rot! The experience was a big thing for you. And you got paid for
it. You must have saved some money--wasn't any way to spend money down
there."

"I don't keep an automobile," remarked Fred ruefully.

"By Jove, I can't afford it myself, but I've got to make a front. Now
those fellows--"

His companions were hallooing from the highway to attract his attention.
He waved and shouted that he was coming.

"Those fellows are in touch with a lot of investors. Nice chaps. I
promised to get 'em home for dinner, and I must skip. You'd better think
over my proposition before turning it down for good. I don't like to
think of your being out here all winter doing nothing. You might as well
take a hand with us. I'll guarantee that you won't regret it."

"I don't believe I care to try it. I'm a born rube, I guess; I like it
out here. And I'm going to stick until I make good or bust."

Charles had cranked his machine and jumped in.

"Look here, Fred," he said, raising his voice above the noise of the
engine, "when I can do anything for you, I want you to call on me. And
if you need money at any time, I want you to come to me or go to Uncle
Will. In fact, he's a little sore because you don't drop in on him
oftener. So long!"

The m