"You don't mean it!" exclaimed Mr. Wardell. "If the papers are filed in time I can save my fortune?"
"That's about it. Can you arrange to file them?"
"I can, I think—no, by Jove! Dick, I can't, either. At least I'm afraid I can't. I'll tell you how I'm fixed. I am about to go to South America for a mining concern. It's a good opening, and it's too good to turn down. I can make my living at it, and in time I may get rich by it. It's a bird in the hand, and it's worth two in the bush, where my former fortune seems to be at present. I don't see how I can go out to San Francisco and to South America, too. And yet I would like to get back my fortune, for I am beginning to believe that it wasn't taken from me altogether fairly."
"We won't go into that now," spoke Dick. "But can you arrange with your lawyer to furnish the necessary papers?"
"Yes. I guess Mr. Tunison would do that for me, even if I can't pay his regular fee. He's done enough business for our family in the past. But, look here, Mr. Hamilton, what good will the papers do me when I can't go to San Francisco to file them? At least, I don't think I ought to give up a certain, sure thing for one that's only a chance. I can't file the papers after I get them."
"Well, then, I can!" cried Dick.
"You can? What do you mean?"
"I mean that my chums and I are going to take a tour to California. I can combine business with pleasure, and file those papers for you. If I can do it in time, you'll get a chance to recover your fortune."
"And will you do that for me?"
"I certainly will!"