sco I became intimate with a
Chinaman."

"You don't mean it?" exclaimed Harold, in incredulity and disgust."

"Yes, I do."

"You weren't in the laundry business with him, were you?" went on
Harold, with a sneer.

"No," he answered aloud. "The laundry business may be a very good
one--I should like the income it produces even now--but I don't think
I have the necessary talent for it. My Chinese friend was a commission
merchant worth at least a hundred thousand dollars. I wasn't above
borrowing money from him sometimes."

"Of course, that makes a difference," said Mrs. Tracy, desiring to
make peace between her brother and son. "He must have been a superior
man. Harold thought you meant a common Chinaman, such as we have in
Chicago."

The reunited family sat down to supper together.

After supper Warner made an excuse for going out.

"I have an engagement with a friend who knows of a position he thinks
I can secure," he said.

"I hope you won't be late," said Mrs. Tracy.

"No, I presume not, but you had better give me a pass key."

Mrs. Tracy did so reluctantly. She was afraid Harold might want to
join his uncle; but the nephew was not taken with his new relative,
and made no such proposal.

In reality, Warner Powell had made an engagement to go to McVicker's
Theater with his friend Stephen Webb, who had arranged to meet him at
the Sherman House.

While waiting, Warner, who had an excellent memory for faces,
recognized Luke, who was selling papers at his usual post. There was
some startling news in the evening papers--a collision on Lake
Michigan--and Luke had ordered an unusual supply, which occupied him
later than his ordinary hour. He had taken a hasty supper at Brockway
& Milan's, foreseeing that he would not be home till late.

"Aunt Eliza's boy!" thought Warner. "I may as well take this
opportunity to cultivate his acquaintance."

He went up to Luke and asked for a paper.

"You don't remember me?" he said, with a smile.

"No," answered Luke, looking puzzled.

"I saw you on Prairie Avenue this morning. Mrs. Merton is my aunt."

"I remember you now. Are you Mrs. Tracy's brother?"

"Yes, and the uncle of Harold. How do you and Harold get along?"

"Not at all. He takes very little notice of me."

"He is a snob. Being his uncle, I take the liberty to say it."

"There is no love lost between us," Luke said. "I would like to be
more friendly, but he treats me like an enemy."

"He is jealous of