But Richards evidently found some difficulty in continuing, for several seconds elapsed before he spoke again.
“The treasurer of the Metropolis Bank called me up this afternoon and asked me to stop in and see him,” he went on. “And when I reached the bank I was informed that ten thousand dollars had been placed to my credit.”
“Good gracious!” Judith clapped her hands. “Why, Joe!”
“Exactly—why?” dryly. “Why should any one do such a thing? I have no near relatives, no one under obligation to me, and so I told the bank treasurer, but he refused to disclose the donor’s name or by whose authority the bank had acted. He did assure me that it was perfectly proper for me to use the money, stating that it was a gift without a string tied to it and that the money is legally mine.”
“But that is splendid!” exclaimed Judith. “Are you not elated?”
“No, only puzzled,” Richards admitted slowly. “I have racked my brain, Judith, to find out where that money could have come from, and”—he held her close to him, his eyes scanning her face. “Did you give it to me?”
Slowly her eyes fell before his ardent look and a telltale blush mantled her cheeks.
“Yes,” she murmured, and for a second clung to him, then pushed him gently from her. Suddenly he raised her hands and kissed them passionately.
“Judith,”—he steadied his voice before continuing—“I can never thank you, never. Therefore it is all the harder to tell you that I cannot take your money.”
“But you must!” she exclaimed in alarm. “Dear, I am wealthy in my own right and this money is some I had lying idle in a savings bank. It is no sacrifice for me to give it to you.”