and by diligence and
faithfulness in his work, fell a victim to the passion of gambling,
robbed money packages that passed through his hands as a cashier in an
express office, was caught, convicted, and sentenced to prison as a
common felon, to the saddening of all the town.

Under such circumstances even the least cultivated of the hard-headed
business men could not fail to regard with special pleasure the silent
work that Duncan was doing for the salvation of at least a considerable
group of young men who might otherwise have fallen victims to the evil
conditions that beset them.

Apart from his association with the young men who frequented his room,
Duncan had no social life at all. He never visited at any house, except
that Captain Hallam frequently had him to a meal over which the two
might "talk business," or where he might meet and help entertain
prominent men of affairs from other cities, whose visits were inspired
by commercial purposes far more than by considerations of a social
nature.

It created some little astonishment, therefore, when one day at the
boarding house table, Duncan said to those about him:

"I hear that you fellows are organizing some sort of club for social
purposes. Why haven't you given me a chance to join?"

"We didn't think you would care for such things. You never go out, you
know, and----"

"What is the purpose of your organization, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Oh, certainly not. We're simply making up a little group, which we call
'The Coterie,' to have a few dancing parties and amateur concerts, and
the like, in the big hotel dining room, during the winter. We've a
notion that the young people of Cairo ought to know each other better.
Our idea is to promote social intercourse and so we're all chipping in
to pay the cost, which won't be much."

"Well, may I chip in with the rest?"

Seeing glad assent in every countenance, he held out his hand for the
subscription paper, and put down his name for just double the largest
subscription on it. Then passing it back he said:

"I think I may be able to secure some support for so good an
undertaking, from the business men of the city and from others--the
lawyers, doctors, and the like. Your entertainments certainly ought to
have the benefit of their countenance. At any rate, I'll see what I can
do. I don't know that I shall myself be able to attend the dances and
the like--in fact, I'm sure I shall not--but I'll do what I can to