ll suspend. I don't bluff. There isn't a plea you can make, or
a single argument, that will have any weight. There's but this one way
to save your reputation and your bank. Do you quite realize what failure
means, coming at this time? It means the finishing touch to a nearly
bankrupt town. It means that the temper of your depositors will be such
that you're liable to be lynched, when they learn that you might have
kept the bank open and did not. Think twice, Mr. Wentz."

"God, but you're cold-blooded!" He groped for the chair and sat down.

"You pay me a compliment," she answered, mockingly. "I take it you
consent?"

He muttered sullenly:

"There's nothin' else. Yes."

CHAPTER XXIX

TOOMEY DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF

It had not been possible for Prentiss to go with Kate to Prouty but he
had promised to come as soon as he could arrange his affairs. This had
required something like two weeks, and in the interim the excitement
attendant upon Kate's return had simmered down. She had not been in
Prouty since, but Prentiss, having notified her of the day of his
arrival, was now awaiting her appearance with an impatience that
evidenced itself in the frequency with which he looked at his watch.

As Prentiss stood at the window of the Prouty House looking down Main
Street, his face wore a smile that was at once amused and kindly.

So this was Kate's environment, or a part of it--where she had grown to
womanhood. The very pavements seemed invested with a kind of sacredness
because they had known the imprint of her feet.

It was little short of idolatry--this man's love for his
daughter--representing as it did all the pent-up affection of his life,
and as he had poured that out prodigally so he had lavished his wealth
upon her, laughing in keen enjoyment at her dismayed protests.

"Why, girl, you don't understand at all! What is money for, if not to
spend on some one you love?"

The weeks they had spent together had been a wonderful experience for
himself as well as for Kate. There were times when he still could not
quite realize that this astonishing young woman was his own flesh and
blood.

With the experience and intelligent comprehension of a man, she yet was
one of the most innately feminine women he had ever known--in her
tastes, her small vanities, her quick and comprehensive sympathies;
while her appreciation of all that was fine and good, whether in human
conduct, the arts, or dress, was a constant marv