nd care for me.
You take lemon in your tea, do you not? I thought so. I always remember
those little things about my friends. And he had such faith in my
business judgment, too. He would often discuss business with me and ask
my opinion on this or that matter; and he always, without exception,
acted on my advice. He used to say--so foolish of him--that he could not
understand why he should have been so favored as to have found a
combination of beauty and brains in one woman."

"It is rare, but as I understand now, not impossible." Hayden took his
cue nobly.

"Oh, Mr. Hayden!" A reproving finger was shaken at him with the archest
coquetry. "If you talk that way I shan't give you another cup of tea, no
matter how hard you beg. But where was I? Oh, yes, I was telling you that
Mr. Oldham so often discussed business matters with me."

"And did they interest you?" asked Hayden vaguely, wondering how soon he
could possibly expect Marcia to return.

"Oh, yes, I found it more thrilling than the printed page."

"Most men do," he replied dryly. "I didn't know that women felt that
way."

"I did." Mrs. Oldham nodded her head in modest acceptation of the fact
that she was the exceptional woman. "I found it not only thrilling, but
often _so_ romantic. I do not see why people will speak of 'the dry
details of business.' I think it is full of romance."

Hayden stared at her with the amazement her mental processes always
aroused in him.

"It never seemed exactly within the range of romantic subjects to me," he
said dubiously; "but perhaps that's the way I've been looking at it."

"Certainly it is," she affirmed triumphantly. "Now I'll prove it to you.
As I often say to young people, Mr. Hayden: 'Never make an assertion
unless you can prove it.' Now, I distinctly remember Mr. Oldham telling
me of a most romantic business matter. A lost mine of almost unthinkable
value which was on an old estate somewhere in Brazil, or no, Peru. Why,
what is the matter, Mr. Hayden? Your eyes are almost popping out of your
head. You look as if you had seen a ghost."

Hayden caught himself together. "It is only that it is so interesting. Do
go on and let me hear the rest of it."

Mrs. Oldham smiled, well pleased at the tribute to her powers as a
raconteuse. "Well, there isn't much to tell. I've forgotten the details,
and they were so romantic, too; but Mr. Oldham seriously considered
buying it."

"And did he buy it?" Hayden's hands were trembl