CHAPTER XXIII

Her mother's wailing could still be heard from overhead, though
more faintly; and old Charley Lohr was coming down the stairs
alone.

He looked at Alice compassionately. "I was just comin' to
suggest maybe you'd excuse yourself from your company," he said.
"Your mother was bound not to disturb you, and tried her best to
keep you from hearin' how she's takin' on, but I thought probably
you better see to her."

"Yes, I'll come. What's the matter?"

"Well," he said, "_I_ only stepped over to offer my sympathy and
services, as it were. _I_ thought of course you folks knew all
about it. Fact is, it was in the evening paper--just a little
bit of an item on the back page, of course."

"What is it?"

He coughed. "Well, it ain't anything so terrible," he said.
"Fact is, your brother Walter's got in a little trouble--well, I
suppose you might call it quite a good deal of trouble. Fact is,
he's quite considerable short in his accounts down at Lamb and
Company."

Alice ran up the stairs and into her father's room, where Mrs.