"I wished to show Mrs. Merton a letter from your brother, now in Milwaukee," said Luke.
"Oh, that's it, is it? Let me see the letter."
"I must refer you to Mrs. Merton."
"He has probably sent to Aunt Eliza for some money," thought Mrs. Tracy. "He and the boy are well matched."
CHAPTER XL
FACE TO FACE WITH THE ENEMY
Thomas Browning sat in his handsome study, in a complacent frame of mind. The caucus was to be held in the evening, and he confidently expected the nomination for mayor. It was the post he had coveted for a long time. There were other honors that were greater, but the mayoralty would perhaps prove a stepping-stone to them. He must not be impatient. He was only in middle life, and there was plenty of time.
"I didn't dream this when I was a penniless miner in California," he reflected, gleefully. "Fortune was hard upon me then, but now I am at the top of the heap. All my own good management, too. Tom Butler—no, Browning—is no fool, if I do say it myself."
"Someone to see you, Mr. Browning," said the servant.