ture with his hand.

"Well," he said, "you meant to keep the thing to yourself?"

"Until I had made the Grenfell Consolidated a success, when I should
have come to you."

"Quite the proper course," commented Stirling. "It's kind of a pity
you didn't stick to it. When you had arrived at that wise decision,
why did you come here to talk to my daughter?"

It was a shrewd question, and perfectly warranted, but Weston answered
it candidly.

"I think I came because I could not stay away," he said.

"Then it never occurred to you that my daughter might fall in love
with you?"

A flush crept into Weston's face.

"At least," he said, "I never came here with the intention of
profiting by that possibility."

Stirling laughed in a rather dry fashion.

"Then she was to do it all at once, when you intimated that she had
permission to?"

"It almost looks like that," Weston admitted, with an embarrassment
that surpassed anything he had expected. "I'm afraid," and he made a
deprecatory gesture, "that I've made a deplorable mess of the whole
affair."

"You have," said Stirling. "As it happens, however, that's in your
favor. If you'd shown yourself a cleverer man in this matter, it might
have occurred to me that it was Miss Stirling's money that you had
your eyes on."

Weston turned and gazed at him with the blood in his forehead.

"I wish with all my heart that Miss Stirling's money were at the
bottom of the sea!" he said passionately. "There's just another thing
I have to say. I came to your house in a fit of desperation a little
while ago, so shaken by what I had just had to face that I was off my
guard. When I told Miss Stirling what I felt for her it was a
folly--but I did it--and I have no excuse to make."

Then, to Weston's astonishment, the contractor's manner changed
suddenly, and he leaned forward with a smile.

"Well," he said, "it's possible that she could find one or two for
you. But we have to face the situation. It seems that you love my
daughter, and there is reason for believing that she is fond of you.
Now, Ida has been accustomed to every luxury, and the only thing you
count on is a share in the Grenfell mine, which I guess you will admit
may go under at any time. What do you propose to do?"

"I don't know," replied Weston, simply. "It's a question that has been
driving me to desperation lately."

"Well," said Stirling, "I could find a way out of the difficulty. Are
you open to place yourself in