e highest bid."

The stranger's warning came just in time. No sooner had Lewis called the
mule for sale than bids rained on him from every side. One after the
other, in rapid succession, the animals were sold; but no more went for
a penny.

His pockets stuffed with notes and silver, the stranger pushed his way
through the crowd, suddenly grown silent. On the way to the river he
paid off his men. He climbed into the canoe, and Lewis followed. The
boatmen shoved off.

The wag, leading Lewis's pony, had followed them to the river-bank.

"Show me thy hoof, partner," he shouted, laughing, to the stranger.
"Thou shouldst deal in souls, not in horses. I would I had shaken thy
hand. God go with thee!"

The stranger calmly counted his money.

"Boy," he said, "I have just given you a five-year life in five minutes.
Write this down in your mind. In high finance he who knows figures
starves on two dollars a day; success comes to him who knows men."

During the long hours in the dirty train that jerked them toward the
coat and civilization the stranger began to grow nervous. Lewis looked
up more than once to find himself the object of a troubled gaze. They
were the only passengers. There were moments when the road-bed permitted
snatches of conversation, but it was during a long stop on a side-track
that the stranger unburdened himself.

"Boy," he said, "the time is coming when I must tell you my name."

"I know your name," said Lewis.

"What!" cried the stranger.

"I know your name," repeated Lewis; "it is Leighton."

"How? How do you know?" The stranger was frowning.

"No," said Lewis, quietly; "I haven't been looking through your things.
One day my--my foster-father and my foster-mother were talking. They did
not know I was near. I didn't realize they were talking about me until
mammy spoke up. Mammy is--well, you know, she's just a mammy----"

"Yes," said the stranger. "What did mammy say?"

"She said," continued Lewis, coloring slightly, "that a Leighton didn't
have to have his name written in a family Bible because God never
forgets to write it in his face."

"Good for mammy!" said the stranger. "So that's what they were talking
about." For a moment he sat silent and thoughtful; then he said: "Boy,
don't you worry about any family Bible business. Your name's written in
the family Bible all right. Take it from me; I know. I'm Glendenning
Leighton--your father." His eyes glistened.

"I'm glad about the name,"