guessed how he and the wife was
worth that much, anyway. Besides, I expect he don't need it."

"I should say that was a safe bet," says I. "If I remember right, his
share of the estate was ten or twelve millions."

"Gorry!" says Uncle Jimmy. "No wonder he couldn't tell me what to put it
into, either. Maybe you could give me an idea, though."

"Me?" says I. "Why, you don't know me, Uncle Jimmy. You wouldn't want
to take a stranger's advice about investin' your money."

"Sho!" says he. "Why not? I've asked most everybody I've had a chance to
talk with ever since I got here, and most of 'em has been mighty
accommodatin'. Why, there was one young man that followed me out of the
lawyer's office just to tell me of some gold mine stock he knew about
that inside of six months was goin' to be worth ten times what it's
sellin' for now. Offered to buy me a controllin' interest too."

"You don't mean it!" says I.

"Yes, Sir. Nice, bright feller that didn't know me from Adam," says
Uncle Jimmy. "Took me ridin' in one of these here taxicabs and bought me
a bang-up hotel dinner. And if it hadn't been that I knew of a Methodist
minister once who lost twenty dollars in gold mine stocks, hanged if I
wouldn't have invested heavy! But somehow, ever since hearin' of that,
I've had an idea gold mines was sort of risky."

"Which ain't such a fool hunch, either," says I.

"Then only this mornin'," goes on Uncle Jimmy enthusiastic, "I runs
across a mighty friendly, spruce-dressed pair,--big Pittsburgh
fi-nanciers, they said they was,--who was makin' money hand over fist
bettin' on hoss races somewheres."

"Well, well!" says I. "Had an operator who'd tapped a poolroom wire and
could hold up returns, didn't they?"

"That's it!" says Uncle Jimmy. "They explained just how it was done; but
I'm a little slow understandin' such things. Anyway, they took me to a
place where I saw one of 'em win two thousand inside of ten minutes; and
b'gum, if I'd been a bettin' man, I could have made a heap! I did let
one of 'em put up fifty cents for me, and he brought back five dollars
in no time. They seemed real put out too when I wouldn't take the chance
of a lifetime and bet a thousand on the next race. But somehow I
couldn't bring myself to it. What would Cynthy think if she knew I was
down here in New York, bettin' on hoss races? No, Sir, I couldn't."

"And you got away with the five, did you?" says I.

"Don't tell," says Uncle Jimmy, "but I slipp