"I would rather not say, Uncle Mark."
"You can't have anything against me personally," put in Bulson, with a scowl.
"But I have!" cried the girl. "You go to the race-track, and drink, and gamble, and I do not like it."
A stormy scene followed, in which all three in the room took part. Strange to say, Mark Horton sided with his nephew, for he did not realize the blackness of Bulson's character.
"You are prejudiced and foolish," cried the invalid at last, turning to his niece. "You do not wish to please me in anything." And so speaking, he arose and tottered from the room. Homer Bulson made as if to follow him, then reconsidered the matter and sank back into a chair. Poor Gertrude burst into a flood of tears.
CHAPTER VIII. THE COMBINATION OF THE SAFE.
"Gertrude, you are making a great mistake," said Homer Bulson, after a pause broken only by the sobbing of the girl.