he Lord knew why. Mr. Mix knew that he was brainier than John
Starkweather; he admitted it. Brainier, smoother, quicker of wit,
and more polished. But Starkweather's office handled the bulk of
local realty transactions; it wrote more insurance than all of
its competitors in a mass; it loaned almost as much money, on
mortgage, as the Trust and Savings. And Mr. Mix, Broker, was on the
verge of bankruptcy. Luck! No question about it.

At the swinging gate there was a girl-clerk who smiled up at him,
flirtatiously. "Want to see the boss? He's busy for a coupla
minutes."

"All right," said Mr. Mix in an undertone. "I'll stay here and talk to
you."

"The nerve of some folks! Think I'm paid to listen to your line of hot
air? Not 'till they double my salary. You go sit down and have a
thought. Exercise's what you need."

Mr. Mix rolled his eyes heavenward. "So young, and so heartless!" he
murmured, and went sedately forward to the reception room.

The door of the private office was not quite closed; so that the
voices of two men were faintly audible. Mr. Mix cast about him, made
sure that he was unobserved, and dignifiedly changed his seat--nearer
that door.

"Yes," said a voice which at first he couldn't recognize. "The deed's
recorded. So legally, Henry owns the property now." Mr. Mix nodded
triumphantly; the voice belonged to Mr. Archer, a leading lawyer and
Mr. Starkweather's closest friend.

"That's the idea." This was in Mr. Starkweather's familiar bass. "Now
how'd you fix the will?"

"Why, it was very simple. Your point was that you didn't want
everybody to know what was going on. So--"

"No. And if I put a lot o' conditions like that in a will, why just as
soon as it was probated, Henry and Mirabelle'd both get an awful lot
o' bum publicity. They'd both be sore, and I'd look like a nut....
Naturally, I don't plan to die off as soon as all this, but better be
safe. I just want to fix it up so Henry'll get the same deal no matter
what happens."

"Very wise, very wise,... Well, here's what I've done. I've changed
the will so that the entire residuary estate is left to me in trust
for your sister and nephew to be administered according to the
trust-deed we're executing today. They can probate that until they're
black in the face, but nobody's going to find out any more than we
want them to."

"Sounds all right so far, but don't you have to take a trust agreement
like that into Court, too?"

"Sooner or late