. You've been at it
too long anyway. It's stopped being a joke, and as a pose----"

"'Pose.'"

The intonation was subtle. A moment's bewilderment, and he burst out,
"You're not doing this because you--_have_ to?"

"That--or something."

"But--but--Good Lord, child! Where is your money?"

With pomp and ceremony--but languidly withal, for her head was beginning
to ache, and she wanted desperately to cry--she laid her purse in his
hand. But she did not look at him.

The big hand closed over the flat little thing impatiently.

"I am referring to your bank account."

"And by what right----"

"We'll settle that later. The banks have opened up again----"

"That's all I have."

"But what has become--You're not going to faint?"

"No."

"Then what has become----"

Quite against her will she was beginning to find herself faintly amused.
Of all pigheaded, impertinent people, this individual with whom she had
hardly had more than five minutes' conversation, except at meal times
during the past six weeks, was certainly the worst.

"I really must know, Miss Stanton, what has become----"

"I gave it away."

"You--gave it--_away_!" Italics could never do justice to his
intonation. He was staring at her as though he considered her demented.
"To whom?" came his indignant question.

After all, why not tell him? It was none of his business; and he was
desperately impertinent; but she was desperately forlorn; and, though it
could not better the situation to talk about it, it might better her
feelings.

She slipped farther down against her rock; and he bent forward,
listening intently.

"I gave it to--a relative. She was living with me at the time of the
fire. We had only just come up from Los Angeles--because I wanted to--I
had some property here; all my income came from it; and I felt I ought
to know more about it--in case anything happened. And after the
earthquake she acted as though I had led her up to the--jaws of
death--and pushed her in--and later she was so afraid of typhoid--and
everything. And so--at last, when the banks opened up again--I gave her
all the money I had in the bank--and she went East right away--and I
stayed here."

"With nothing?"

"I had fifty dollars. I was doing relief work at the Presidio, waiting
for the vaults to cool off--I had a lot of paper money in a box
there--and for the insurance companies to pay--and for the man who
looked after my affairs to get well: he'd been hurt in t