uld."

"Why, of course I should. What are a woman's wits for, anyhow?"

"The carriage is at the door," said a servant, entering.

"Very well. Let it wait. Now, Guilford Duncan, go on and tell me."

"Well, the fact is, that I have not been in a position to ask Barbara to
accept my escort to public places."

"Why not? Is it because of this Tandy affair?"

"No."

"Then what? Go on, and don't make me pump the information out of you, as
if you were a well or a leaky barge."

"The fact is," Duncan spoke very seriously now, "that a little while ago
I was betrayed by own emotions into declaring my love for Barbara, much
sooner than I had intended--before she was prepared to hear it."

"Oh, nonsense! As if a girl ever needed preparation for a declaration of
that sort from--- well, from the right sort of man. But go on, you know
the carriage is waiting. Tell me. Has she accepted you?"

"No."

"Has she rejected you?"

"No."

Here Mrs. Duncan again rang the bell, and a servant appeared so promptly
as to suggest that she had been listening just outside the door.

"Tell my maid to get into the carriage and go and fetch Miss Barbara
Verne. Tell her to say that I am detained here, and am forced to send my
maid in my stead."

The servant said, "Yes'm," and withdrew. Then Mrs. Duncan resumed her
questioning with manifest eagerness, but with as much of seriousness as
Duncan himself had shown. There was no touch of flippancy, or even of
lightness in either her words or her tone. For Mrs. Will Hallam was a
woman of deep and tender feeling, a woman to whom all holy things were
sacred.

"Tell me about it all, Guilford. I do not understand, and I must know. I
need not tell you that my interest is not prompted by curiosity. I hold
you as my brother, and I love Barbara. Tell me."

And Duncan did. As he outlined the compact that Barbara had insisted
upon, the smiles replaced solemn apprehension on Mrs. Hallam's face, as
though she foresaw all she desired as the outcome of such an
arrangement.

But all that she said was:

"I am greatly relieved."

XXVIII

THE BIRTH OF A GREAT RAILROAD

Upon becoming president of a strong bank, and the close associate of
Hallam and Stafford in all their undertakings, Guilford Duncan became at
once a factor to be recognized and reckoned with in all enterprises with
which he had to do. He had brains, character, and indomitable energy,
and these had already won for him the respect