"Perhaps so. I have no means of judging."
"Supposing it to be the figure you name, how much would you be willing to give me, if she leaves me out in the cold?"
"I am not prepared to say, Warner. I would see that you had no good reason to complain."
"I should prefer to have you name a figure, so that I might know what to depend upon."
But this Mrs. Tracy declined to do, though her brother continued to urge her.
"Where have you been for a few years past, Warner?" she asked.
"Floating about. At first I didn't dare to come back. It was a year at least before I heard that aunt had paid up the sum I got away with. When I did hear it I was in Australia."
"What did you do there?"
"I was a bookkeeper in Melbourne for a time. Then I went into the country. From Australia I came to California, and went to the mines. In fact, I have only just come from there."
"Didn't you manage to make money anywhere?"