live so well. He would have been even more
amazed had he known that the weekly rent of the room he was in was
twelve dollars.

"You've got a splendid room, Uncle Jacob," he said. "I shouldn't think
you could afford to live in such style."

"Some of my friends think I am extravagant," observed Jacob Marlowe with
a smile. "Perhaps they are right."

"I am afraid you can't save anything," went on Bert gravely. "What if
you should get sick?"

"I see, Bert, you are more prudent than I am. However I have invested
some of my money in the Magnet Mine, and it is likely to double. So I
feel justified in making myself comfortable."

"I am glad to hear that, Uncle Jacob. You deserve to succeed, you are so
kind to others."

"I am glad you think so, Bert. I want to do some good while I live. It
gives a man something to live for."

After supper, which was taken at a restaurant near by, Uncle Jacob said:
"Now let us come to business. I promised your father that I would do
what I could to prove him innocent of the charge made against him ten
years since."

"Where is my father? Is he in the city?"

"No; it is not safe for him to stay here, as he is subject to arrest,
and might be recognized. He has gone back to Canada. Do you know the
particulars of his story?"

"Yes; mother told me all about it last night."

"You know, then, that a young man named Ralph Harding informed against
him, and that it was his testimony that led to your father's arrest."

"Yes."

"Your father is under the impression that this Harding was in league
with Albert Marlowe, and was employed by him to throw suspicion upon
your father. The weak point of the prosecution was that your father
could only be connected with the five-hundred dollar bond found in his
overcoat pocket, while a large balance was wholly unaccounted for. That
made it seem like a cunning conspiracy, as undoubtedly it was."

"Were the other bonds never traced?"

"I understand not. No list of the numbers had been kept, and, not being
registered, they could easily be sold. Your father thinks that upon
these the present prosperity of Albert Marlowe was built up."

"How are we to prove that?"

"It will be difficult. One thing is absolutely essential. We must find
this Ralph Harding, and persuade him, if we can, to exonerate your
father and place the guilt where it properly belongs."

"Does father know where to find Harding?"

"No; if he did, the greatest difficulty in our way wou