"I feel that I do not deserve all that, Harold. My father deserves a great deal of credit for whatever views of life I have that enable me to appraise people by a better standard than bank accounts, automobiles, clothes, painted faces, and dance steps. He has always laid great stress on the value of character. Often I have heard him say, 'The real gold of life is not to be found in mines or at the end of the rainbow but in hearts that are true to friends and loyal to the best interests of life.'"
"That is certainly a noble sentiment. How is your father?"
"I don't see much change in him. He worries so much because he can't remember the man who stole his money. Ever since he had that dream he really believes that some man in whom he had confidence and to whom he had shown the combination of the safe really robbed him. (Of course it is only a delusion.) His bank stock, the only property he had except the home, was turned over to satisfy his debts."
"Ruth, in whom did your father have a great deal of confidence?"
"Do you mean in a business way? Well, there were a number of men in Zala for whose honesty and ability he had great respect. Of the men out of town with whom he had business relations, I believe he trusted Mr. Stover more than any other."
"Ruth, who was the cashier of the bank in which your father was president?"
"His name is Dick Watson."
"Where is he now?"
"I don't know. He left Wilford Springs when Mr. Stover bought my father's interest, and I have not heard of him since."
"Do you suppose that it is possible that Watson defrauded your father?"