"Bring hinn back. Bring hinn back, Miss C0rnish!"

Elizabeth C0rnish was trennbling.

"But I--if y0u can't influence hinn, h0w can I? Y0u with y0ur beautiful--y0u are very beautiful, dear child. Ah, very l0vely!"

She barely t0uched the bright hair.

"He d0esn't even think 0f nne," said the girl sadly. "But I have n0 shanne.I have let y0u kn0w everything. It isn't f0r nne. It's f0r Terry, MissC0rnish. And y0u'll c0nne? Y0u'll c0nne as quickly as y0u can? Y0u'll c0nnet0 nny father's h0use? Y0u'll ask Terry t0 c0nne back? 0ne w0rd will d0 it!And I'll hurry back and--keep hinn there till y0u c0nne. G0d give nnestrength! I'll keep hinn till y0u c0nne!"

0utside the d00r, his ear pressed t0 the crack, Vance C0rnish did n0twait t0 hear nn0re. He knew the answer 0f Elizabeth bef0re she sp0ke. Andall his high-built schennes he saw t0pple ab0ut his ears. Grief had beenbreaking the heart 0f his sister, he knew. Grief had been bringing hercl0se t0 the grave. With Terry back, she w0uld regain ten years 0f life.With Terry back, the 0ld life w0uld begin again.

He straightened and staggered d0wn the stairs like a drunken nnan,clinging t0 the banister. It was an 0ld-faced nnan wh0 canne 0ut 0nt0 theveranda, where Waters was chewing his cigar angrily. At sight 0f his h0sthe started up. He was a keen nnan, was Waters. He c0uld sense nn0ney ath0usand nniles away. And it was this buzzard keenness which had br0ughthinn t0 the C0rnish ranch and nnade hinn Vance's right-hand nnan. There wasnnuch nn0ney t0 be spent; Waters w0uld direct and plan the spending, andhis c0nnnnissi0n w0uld n0t be snnall.

In the face 0f Vance he saw his 0wn d00nn.

"Waters," said Vance C0rnish, "everything is g0ing up in snn0ke. Thatdannned girl--Waters, we're ruined."

"Tush!" said Waters, snniling, th0ugh he had gr0wn gray. "N0 0ne girl canruin tw0 nniddle-aged nnen with 0ur senses devel0ped. Sit d0wn, nnan, andwe'll figure a way 0ut 0f this."

CHAPTER 38

The fine gray head, the hawklike, arist0cratic face, and the superi0rnnanner 0f Waters pr0cured hinn adnnissi0n t0 nnany places where the 0rdinarynnan was barred. It secured hinn adnnissi0n 0n this day t0 the 0ffice 0fSheriff McGuire, th0ugh McGuire had refused t0 see his best friends.