you!" he repeated. "I don't remember that I've
told you anything."

"But you have. Not in words, perhaps, but you have told me. I know.
Please go on and tell me all. If you don't," with determination, "I
shall make Uncle Elisha tell me as soon as he comes. I shall!"

Sylvester sighed. "Well, by George!" he repeated, feelingly. "I'll tell
you one thing, young woman, you're wasting your talents. You should be
a member of the bar. Anyone who can lead a battle-scarred veteran of
cross-examination like myself into a trap and then spring it on him, as
you have done, is gifted by Providence."

"But will you tell me?"

He hesitated, perplexed and doubtful.

"I ought not to say another word on the subject," he declared,
emphatically. "What Captain Warren will say to me when he finds this
out is unpleasant to consider. But.... But yet, I don't know. It may
be better for you to learn the real truth than to know a part and
guess wrongly at the rest. I.... What is it you want me to tell you?"

"Everything. I want you to sit down here by me and tell me the whole
story, from the beginning. Please."

He hesitated a moment longer and, then, his mind made up, returned to
his chair, crossed his legs and began. "Here it is," he said.

"Caroline, about twenty years ago, or such matter, your father was a
comparatively poor man--poor, I mean, compared to what he afterward
became. But he was a clever man, an able business man, one who saw
opportunities and grasped them. At that time he obtained a grant in
South America for--"

"I know," she interrupted; "the Akrae Rubber Company was formed. You
told Steve and me all about that. What I want to know is--"

"Wait. I did not tell you all about it. I said that another man invested
ten thousand dollars with your father to form that company. That man, so
we now know, was your uncle, Captain Elisha Warren."

"I guessed that. Of course it must have been he."

"It was. The captain was older than your father, had lived carefully,
and had saved some money. Also, at that time, he idolized his brother
and believed in his shrewdness and capability. He invested this ten
thousand on Rodgers Warren's word that the investment was likely to be a
good one. That, and to help the latter in business. For a few years
the company did nothing; during that time your father and uncle
disagreed--concerning another matter, quite unconnected with this
one--and they did not see each other again while Rodgers li