in.

"Sit down, Burleigh. What can I do for you?" Fenneben asked.

Something like his own magnetism of presence was in the young man before
him.

"I want to tell you something," Vic responded.

"Let me tell you something. I knew you had good blood in your veins even
when I saw you kill that bull snake. Burgess has just been in. He has
told me his side of your story. Noble fellow he is to free himself of a
life-long slavery to somebody else's dollars. However much a man may try
to hide the fetters of unlawful gains, they clank in his own ears till
he hates himself. Now Burgess is a freeman."

"I am glad to hear you say so, Dr. Fenneben. It makes my own freedom
sweeter," Vic declared.

"Yes," Fenneben replied. "Your added means will bring you life's best
gift--opportunity."

"I have no added means, Doctor. I have funds in trust for Bug Buler, and
I come to ask you to take his legal guardianship for me." And then he
told his own life story.

"So the heroism shifts to you as well. I can picture the cost to a man
like yourself," the Dean said. "Have you no record of Bug's father and
mother?"

"None but the record given by Dr. Wream. They are dead," Burleigh
replied. "His father may have met the same fate that my father did."

"Why don't you take the guardianship yourself, Burleigh? The boy is
yours in love and blood. He ought to be in law."

Victor Burleigh stood up to his full height, a magnificent product of
Nature's handiwork. But the mind and soul "Dean Funnybone" had helped to
shape.

"I will be honest with you, Dr. Fenneben," Burleigh said, and his voice
was deep and sweetly resonant. "If I keep the money in charge I may not
be proof against the temptation to use it for myself. As strong as my
strong arms are my hates and loves, and for some reasons I would do
almost anything to gain riches. I might not resist the tempter."

Lloyd Fenneben's black eyes blazed at the words.

"I understand perfectly what you mean, but no woman who exacts this
price is worth the cost." Then, in a gentler tone, he continued:
"Burleigh, will you take my advice? I have always had your welfare on
my heart. Finish your college work first. Get the best of the classroom,
the library, the athletic field, and the 'picnic spread.' Is that the
right term? But fit yourself for manhood before you undertake a man's
duties. Meantime, He who has given you the mastery in the years behind
you is leading you toward the larger places befor