make them better."

"But I have something to say that you ought to know," Helen continued.
"When father died, it was generally supposed that he left nothing for
his family. For years he drew a good salary as a mining
superintendent. Well, he didn't leave much, except about $5,000
insurance, but mother had been saving for years secretly, not even
letting him know how much she had. He supposed we were living up his
salary of $10,000 a year as we went along, for it wasn't in him to
save a cent. Mother took a good deal of delight in her secret. For a
while she had done her best to induce him to save something, and then,
realizing that her plea was futile, she got busy herself in a
systematic manner and in the course of seven or eight years she laid
aside something like $25,000.

"But shortly before father's death something happened that caused her
to guard her secret up to the present time. A large amount of money
was stolen from the company that employed father, and mother realized
at once that if it were discovered that she had so much money,
suspicion might be directed toward him. In fact, she took me into her
confidence only about a year ago.

"Now, mother has often said that she would like to do something for
you and the children, but Dave's peculiarities always stood in the
way. I just wanted to tell you that mother is able and willing to help
you and will not let you or her grandchildren suffer as a result of
what I may be forced to do."

The conversation went along in this manner for more than an hour.
Neither of the sisters-in-law realized how rapidly the time was flying