grade above the
town--a town now spreading into a wilderness of hastily built and
crowding structures. It was a simple pit he had digged for an old man
suddenly gone mad with the fever of mine-buying. From picking up stock
in a score of prospects, Mr. Colbrith had hedged by concentrating his
heavy investments in six or seven of the most promising of the partly
developed properties. Then, to make assurance reasonably sure, he had
sprung the modern method of combination upon his fellow stock-holders in
the producing mines. The promising group was to be merged in one giant
holding corporation, strong enough to control the entire Copah
situation.

But there were obstacles in the way; obstructions carefully placed, if
the truth must be told, by an unscrupulous young manipulator in the
president's own household. The Little Alicia was in the group, was the
keystone in the combination arch, as it chanced, and unhappily Grigsby
had parted with a grievous block of his share of the stock--a block
which could neither be recovered nor traced to its present holder. Not
to make a mystery of the matter, the certificates were safely locked in
a safety-deposit box in the vault of the Bank of Copah, and the key to
the box rattled in Adair's pocket. And because the Little Alicia could
not be included, three other necessary votes were withheld when the
president tried to get action.

Mr. Colbrith was in despair. A good many of his investments were
palpably bad; and they could be recouped only by the backing of the
combination. And the combination obstinately refused to combine unless
the Little Alicia could be gathered in. At the end of the ends Mr.
Colbrith appealed to his nephew.

"You know where Ford is," he began accusingly. "You needn't deny it. I
was in hopes we wouldn't have to ask him to sell us more than one share
of his stock, which he couldn't decently refuse to do if we let him set
his own price. But since we can't trace that block that Grigsby let go,
we must have nearly all of Ford's. Find him: get his stock if you have
to pay twice par for it. If you don't, I--I shall be the heaviest loser
in this camp, Charles Edward." It was gall and wormwood to the old man,
but it had to be swallowed.

"So you are coming around to ask a favor of Ford?" said the young man
unfeelingly. "He won't help you out. You mustn't forget that you kicked
him out of the family; or rather you kicked him to prevent his getting
into it."

"But think