"What was that?" demanded the voice that had uttered the terrible threats.
"Someone dreaming."
"Let them dream. As for me, I never sleep these days. I leave that to others. Jim, you watch me. I'll be a king of finance yet. I'll be the Napoleon in reality before I have done. And what is more, those men will never know where their opposition comes from until after the blow has fallen. I'll see to it that they know then, however. Watch me, but keep silent. Not a word, not a breath of what I have told you. I've said too much, but I had to talk to some one I could trust. Now I'm all right again."
"Never fear, Nat."
"And I'll give you a tip, boy. Buy wheat."
Bab could not catch all of the sentence. She caught the word "wheat," but a word ahead of that she missed.
"Thank you, I never gamble," replied the second man. "I'm sure to lose if I do, so I have always steered clear of speculation. But I'm sorry for the Old Man if you are after him. I'm sorry for anyone that you visit your displeasure upon. I should hate to have you get after my scalp."
"What's—who's talking in this berth?" demanded Mollie, sitting up suddenly.
"Sh-h-h!" warned Barbara, laying a restraining hand on her sister's lips. "It isn't in this berth. It's in the next one. Go to sleep."
"Is—is Grace asleep?"