"Oh, Uncle Mark!" cried Gertrude, much shocked.
"I seem to be completely broken down," went on the invalid. "At times the strangest of sinking spells come over me. I feel very, very old."
There was a painful silence, and Gertrude rearranged the pillow behind the invalid's head.
"Did you see about those stocks to-day, Homer?" went on Mark Horton. "I had forgotten about them."
"I did, sir."
"And what did the broker say?"
"He urged me to hold on awhile longer."
"And you have them still?"
"Yes, uncle."