"Where?" asked Mr. Scovill eagerly. "If it's to be had you may rest assured we'll get hold of it by hook or crook."
"You remember John Rogers?" asked Mr. Thurston. Mr. Scovill nodded.
"When he died he left his daughters a fortune in stocks," continued Mr.
Thurston.
"Yes?" inquired Mr. Scovill encouragingly.
"Well," said Mr. Thurston, with a glitter in his eye, "I was appointed guardian of those two girls."
Mr. Scovill whistled. "Meaning to say———" he began.
"That I have the managing of their property until they come of age," finished Mr. Thurston.
"Our fortune's made," said Mr. Scovill, shaking him by the hand.
"The only thing is," said Mr. Thurston, scratching his head reflectively, "that the oldest girl comes of age in June, and there might be an awkward inquiry just at the wrong time. We can't afford to have any investigations begun inside of the next six months if we expect to carry through the other scheme. Any breath of scandal would wreck our prospects."
Mr. Scovill's face fell. He saw only too clearly the truth of the other's words. But where Mr. Thurston came to a halt in front of a dead wall, Scovill's scheming mind saw the loophole. "But just suppose," he said slowly, "that there shouldn't be any investigation when the oldest girl comes of age? Suppose she should never put in a claim for her property?"
"What do you mean?" asked Mr. Thurston.