"Frisby—yes, that was his name. Why, do you know him?"
"What!"
The others had shouted this in chorus, and were staring at the Colonel stupidly.
"Why, yes," he repeated, looking from one to the other; "Frisby of the 'Voice of Light.' I saw a copy of it lying here on the table one day. It's a big property now. Do you know him?"
Perner had risen and was standing directly in front of the Colonel.
"We do," he admitted. His voice sounded rather unusual in its quality, and he spoke very deliberately. "At least, we know of him. It was what happened to Frisby, or, at least, what we heard happened to Frisby, that we were banking on."
"By gad, yes," put in Livingstone.
"What did you hear happened to Frisby?" asked the Colonel, quietly.
"We heard," continued Perner, "that Frisby bought the 'Voice of Light' without putting down a dollar—that he didn't have a dollar to put down—that he contracted for papers and advertising without a dollar—that he didn't have a dollar when his first advertising appeared—that he got a thousand dollars in the first mail, and six thousand dollars in one day! That's what we heard happened to Frisby."
Colonel Hazard rose and walked across the room and back. Above him the gray of the New Year lay on the sleet-drifted skylight like the dawn of truth. He paused in front of the fire and regarded the three listening men.