"Do you really feel able to talk?" asked the millionaire banker. "I will insist now—you got, the better of me once, Peter."
"Yes, Mr. Starr," Cora added to the request. "Do be careful."
"And she asks me to be careful!" He actually seized Cora in his trembling arms. "She! Why she risked her life for us. It was she who found my Laurel! She who came to us at night to be sure we would not repel her! She who followed up that—"
"Oh, please, hush!" Cora begged, "or it will be she who causes your relapse," she insisted.
"Indeed no," and the man held in his hands before him the flushed face of Cora. "What you have done cannot be told of in this rude way."
"Father, I'll be jealous," said Laurel, trying to relieve the tension.
Cora slipped away. It was Mr. Breslin who spoke next.
"And you really remember?" he asked of Mr. Starr. "How was it that you ran away?"
"The bank president's name had been forged to a check for ten thousand dollars!"
"Yes, I know that well," said Mr. Breslin.