er his big shoulders. It
seemed good to touch him. Somehow there radiated from this man a
strength and tenderness which she had never known before: In the tones
of his voice, in the feel of his hand, in the restfulness that
pervaded his every word and gesture. For the first time, it seemed to
her, she realized what it was to have a father.

"And won't you talk to papa again, Mr. Gregg?" she pleaded in a more
hopeful voice.

"Yes, if you wish me to, but it would do no good--not now. It is not
your father this time, it's you. Will you help Phil make the fight,
little girl? You love him, don't you?"

"Oh, with all my heart!"

"Well, then, tell him so. He will be here in a few minutes."

Madeleine sprang from her seat:

"No, I must not see him," she cried in frightened tones; "I promised
my father. I came at this time because I knew he would not be here.
Let me go: We are having trouble enough. No--please, Mr. Gregg--no, I
must go."

"And what shall I tell Phil?" He dared not persuade her.

"Tell him--tell him--Oh, Mr. Gregg, you know how I love him!"

She was through the curtains and halfway down the corridor before he
could reach the door. All the light had come back to her eyes and the
spring to her step.

Adam walked to the banisters and listened to the patter of her little
feet descending the stairs to the street. Then he went back into the
studio and drew the curtains. Thank God, her heart was all right.

Once more he picked his brushes from the ginger-jar where in his
despair he had thrust them. Nothing in the situation had changed. The
fear that Madeleine had lost her love for Phil had never troubled him
for an instant. Women's hearts did not beat that way. That Phil's
future was assured once he got his feet under him was also a foregone
conclusion. What Mr. Eggleston thought about it was another matter,
and yet not a serious one. He might be ugly for a time--would be--but
that was to be expected in a man who had lost his special capital, a
son-in-law and considerable of his reputation at one blow. What had
evidently hurt the banker most was the wounding of his pride. He had
always stood well with Mr. Stockton--must continue to do so when he
realized how many of his other interests depended on his good-will and
the trust company's assistance. Phil had not told Adam this when he
went over the scene in the office the morning they closed up the
accounts, but Gregg had read between the lines. The one brigh