CHAPTER III


THORPE took a long, thoughtful pull at the beer his sister
brought him.

"Ah, I didn't know I was so thirsty," he said, when he
put the glass down. "Truth is--I've lost track of
myself altogether since--since the big thing happened.
I seem to be somebody else--a comparative stranger,
so to speak. I've got to get acquainted with myself,
all over again. You can't imagine what an extraordinary
feeling it is--this being hit every few minutes with
the recollection that you're worth half a million.
It's like being struck over the head. It knocks you down.
There are such thousands of things to do--you dance about,
all of a flutter. You don't know where to begin."

"Begin where you left off," suggested Louisa. "You were
going to tell me how--how 'the big thing' happened.
You're always coming to it--and never getting any further."

Nodding comprehension of the rebuke's justification,
he plunged forthwith into the tale.

"You remember my telling you at the time how I got my
Board together. I'm speaking now of the present Company--after
I'd decided to be my own promoter, and have at least some kind
of 'a look-in' for my money. There wasn't much money left,
by the way; it was considerably under three thousand.