"Well, I'm glad you've returned anyhow; for there's an added starter."
"Who is he?"
"He's some primitive Western fellow like yourself! I don't know his name—never met him, in fact. But while we Chicago fellows were cantering along in a bunch, watching each other, he got the rail."
"From the way her father spoke and acted I judged he had somebody in sight." Boyd's eyes were keenly alight, and Clyde continued.
"We've just got to keep her in Chicago, and you're the one to do it. I tell you, old man, she has missed you. Yes, sir, she has missed you a blamed sight more than the rest of us have. Oh, you don't know how lucky you are."
"I lucky! H'm! You fellows are rich—"
"Bah! I'm not. I've gone through most of what I had. All that is left are the rents; they keep me going, after a fashion. Now that it is too late, I'm beginning to wake up; I'm getting tired of loafing. I'd like to get out and do something, but I can't; I'm too well known in Chicago, and besides, as a business man I'm certainly a nickel-plated rotter."
"I'll give you a chance to recoup," said Boyd. "I am here to raise some money on a good proposition."
The younger man leaned forward eagerly. "If you say it's good, that's all I want to know. I'll take a chance. I'm in for anything from pitch-and-toss to manslaughter."
"I'll tell you what it is, and you can use your own judgment."