For a moment Van Patten stared at Barnes in silence. Then he stammered,
“Stranger, I reckon I owe you more than Dad does.”
“Neither of you owes me anything,” answered Barnes.
“We’ll settle that later,” said Van Patten, earnestly. “But Dad—didn’t he call your bluff at all?”
“No. I left when his sight began to improve.”
“How’d you work that?”
“I told him I had to go to New York on business. From New York I wired you, and—here you are.”
“I never got your wires,” answered Van Patten, “but, thank God, here I am.”
“You’ll have to back me up in what I told him about Alaska,” smiled Barnes.
“Lord,” gasped Van Patten, “you did go the limit. But trust me to play out the game.”