talk to her, and though he had come to the city for the purpose, his
adventures of the day with banks and trust companies had given a new
direction to his needs. But the habit of secrecy, of fighting out his
battles alone, was so thoroughly established that he found it difficult
to enter into confidences even when this kind-hearted friend made the
way easy for him.

"Come, out with it, Andrew. You're the only person I know who's never
come to me with troubles. I'd begun to think you were among the lucky
ones who never have any or else you were afraid of me."

"It's not fair to trouble you about this, but I'm in a corner where I
need help. When I asked you to let me bring Sylvia here I merely wanted
you to look her over. She's got to an age where I can't trust my
judgment about her. I had a plan for her that I thought I could put
through without much trouble, but I found out to-day that it isn't so
easy. I wanted to send her to college."

"You want to send her to college and you thought you would come over and
let me give her a little motherly counsel while you borrowed the money
of Tom Adams to pay her college bills. Is that what's happened?"

"Just about that, Sally. Adams is all right; he has to protect the
bank."

"Adams is a doddering imbecile. How much did you ask him for?"

"Five thousand dollars. I offered to put up my life insurance policy for
that amount and some stock I own. He said money was tight just now and
they'd want a good name on the paper besides the collateral, and that