"Yes."

"I was in rather an idle frame, and being possessed, as I supposed, of fifty thousand dollars, I felt no necessity impelling me to work. You gave me no advice, but rather encouraged me in my idle propensities.

When I was of age, I took a fancy to travel, and left my property in your hands, with full power to manage it for me. This trust you accepted."

"Well, this is an old story."

"An old one, but it shall not be a long one. My income being sufficient to defray my expenses abroad, I traveled leisurely, with no thought for the future. In your integrity I had the utmost confidence. Imagine, then, my dismay when, while resident in Paris, I received a letter from you stating that, owing to a series of unlucky investments, nearly all my money had been sunk, and in place of fifty thousand dollars, my property was reduced to a few hundreds.'

"It was unlucky, I admit," said Mr. Stanton, moving uneasily in his chair. "My investments were unlucky, as it turned out, but the best and most judicious cannot always foresee how an investment will turn out.

Besides, I lost largely, myself."

"So you wrote me," said Ralph, quietly. "However, that did not make it any the easier for me to bear."

"Perhaps not, but it shows, at any rate, that I took the same risk for my own money that I did for others."

Ralph proceeded without noticing this remark. "What made matters worse for me was that I had fallen in love with a young American lady who, with her parents, was then traveling in Europe. My circ.u.mstances, as I supposed them to be, justified me in proposing marriage. I was accepted by the young lady, and my choice was approved by the parents. When, however, I learned of my loss of fortune, I at once made it known, and that approval was withdrawn. The father told me that, under the altered circ.u.mstances, the engagement must be considered broken. Still, he held out the prospect that, should I ever again obtain a property as large as that I had lost, I might marry his daughter. She, on her part, promised to wait for me."

"Well?"

"I came to New York, received from you the remnant of my lost fortune, and sailed the next week for California, then just open to American enterprise. The most glowing stories were told of fortunes won in an incredibly short time, Having no regular occupation, and having a strong motive for acquiring money, it is not surprising that I should have been dazzled with the rest, and persuaded to make the journey to the land of gold."

"A Quixotic scheme, as I thought at the time," said Mr. Stanton, coldly.

"For one that succeeded, there were fifty who failed. You had better have taken the clerkship I offered you."

"You are wrong," said Ralph, composedly. "There were many who were disappointed, but I was not among the number."

"Did you succeed?" asked Mr. Stanton, surprised.

"So well," answered the other, "that at the end of two years' residence, I found myself as rich as I had ever been."

"Had you made fifty thousand dollars?" demanded the merchant, in amazement.

"I had."

"What did you do? Why did you not let me know of your success?"

"When I once more found myself possessed of a fortune, I took the next vessel home with my money. I had but one thought, and that was to claim the hand of my promised bride, who had promised to wait for me ten years, if necessary."

"Well?"

"I found her married," said Ralph, bitterly. "She had forgotten her promise, or had been over-persuaded by her parents--I do not know which --and had proved false to me."

"That was unfortunate. But do you still possess the money?"

"I do."

"Indeed! I congratulate you," said Mr. Stanton, with suavity, and he held out his hand, which Ralph did not appear to see. Ralph Pendleton rich was a very different person from Ralph Pendleton poor, and it occurred to him that he might so far ingratiate himself into the favor of his former ward as to obtain the charge of his second fortune. He saw that it would be safe, as well as politic, to exchange his coldness for a warm and cordial welcome.

"Proceed with your story," he said; "I am quite interested in it."

CHAPTER x.x.xII

RISEN FROM THE DEAD

Ralph Pendleton proceeded.

"This blow overwhelmed me. All that I had been laboring for seemed suddenly s.n.a.t.c.hed from me."

"You had your money," suggested Mr. Stanton.

"Yes, I had my money; but for money itself I cared little."

Mr. Stanton shrugged his shoulders a little contemptuously. He could not understand how anyone could think slightingly of money, and he decided in his own mind that Ralph was an unpractical enthusiast.

"I valued money only as a means to an end, and that end was to make Margaret Lindsay my wife. She failed me, and my money lost its charm."

"There were plenty who could have consoled you in her place."

"No doubt, I might have been successful in other quarters, but I did not care to try. I left New York in disgust, and, going West, I buried myself in the forest, where I built a rude cabin, and there I have lived since, an unsocial, solitary life. Years have pa.s.sed since I visited New York."

"What did you do with your money all this while?"

"I left it in the hands of men whom I could trust. It has been acc.u.mulating all these years, and I find that the fifty thousand dollars have swelled to ninety thousand."

"Indeed!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Mr. Stanton, his respect for Ralph considerably raised. "And now you have come here to enjoy it, I suppose?"

"A different motive has led to my coming--a motive connected with you,"

said Ralph, fixing his eyes steadily upon Mr. Stanton.

"Connected with me!" repeated the merchant, uneasily.

"Yes."

"May I ask in what manner?"

"I expected the question, and am come to answer it. When I returned from Europe impoverished, you gave me a brief statement of the manner in which you had invested my fortune, and showed me how it had melted away like snow before the sun."

"You remember rightly. I bought, on your account, shares in Lake Superior Mining Company, which promised excellently, and bade fair to make handsome returns. But it proved to be under the management of knaves, and ran quickly down from par to two per cent., at which price I thought best to sell out, considering that a little saved from the wreck was better than nothing."

"This is according to the statement you made me," said Ralph, quietly.

"I am sure," said Mr. Stanton, "that no one regretted more than I do the disastrous result. Indeed, I had reason to do so, for I was myself involved, and suffered considerable loss."

"I am aware now that you were concerned in the matter," said Ralph, significantly.