weeks that had been one long stretch of misery, and now he went to work
again. To collect the little due him and raise all the money he could
was his sole thought. He wrote to Thygeson & Company that he had at last
found the heir they were in search of, and described what proofs he
held, at the same time stating that on receipt of his fee of a thousand
dollars all and sufficient proofs of identity of the claimant would be
forwarded. Then he wrote to Uncle Terry and demanded three hundred more.
September wheat had now fallen to seventy-eight.

CHAPTER XXVII

IN SHADY WOODS

Blanch Nason, Frank's younger sister, was his good friend and
sympathizer, and in all the family discussions had usually taken his
part. His elder sister, Edith, was like her mother, rather arrogant and
supercilious, and considered her brother as lacking in family pride, and
liable to disgrace them by some unfortunate alliance. It was to Blanch
he always turned when he needed sympathy and help, and to her at
Bethlehem he appeared the day after he had left the "Gypsy." His coming
surprised her not a little.

"Why, what has brought you here, Frank?" she asked. "I thought you were
having high jinks down in Maine on the yacht, and playing cards every
night with your cronies!"

"Oh, that is played out," he answered. "The boys are at Bar Harbor,
having a good time. Bert is at a little unheard-of place saying sweet
things to a pretty girl he found there, and I got lonesome, so I came
up here to see you and get you to help me," he added slyly.

"I thought so," answered Blanch, laughing; "you never did come to me
unless you wanted help. Well, who is the girl now, and what do you
want?"

Frank looked surprised.

"How do you know it is a girl?" he asked.

"It usually is with you," she answered, eyeing him curiously. "So out
with it. What's her name?"

"Alice Page," he replied.

"What, the girl you wanted us to invite to go on the yacht?" asked
Blanch.

"That's the one," he replied, "and, as you know, she wouldn't come."

"Which shows her good sense," interrupted Blanch. "Well, what can I do
in the matter?"

"Much, if you want to, and nothing, if you don't," he answered. "The
fact is, sis, I want you to pack a trunk, and go with me to call on her.
She is mighty proud, and I imagine that is why she turned the cold
shoulder on my efforts to get her to come to Boston and meet you all.
Now, if you go there, if only for one night, the ice w