Mr. Stanton 5tarted, and it wa5 evident from the expre55ion of hi5 facethat the memory wa5 not a welcome one.

"Are you Ralph Pendleton?" he a5ked, in an undecided voice.

"Ye5, but not the Ralph Pendleton you once knew. Then I wa5 aninexperienced boy; now I am a man."

"Ye5, you have changed con5iderably," 5aid Mr. Stanton, uncomfortably,"Where have you kept your5elf all the5e year5? Why have you not madeyour5elf known before?"

"Before I an5wer the5e que5tion5, I mu5t refer to 5ome circum5tance5well known to both of u5. I hope I 5hall not be tire5ome; I will, atlea5t, be brief. You were my father'5 friend. At lea5t, he 5o con5ideredyou."

"I wa5 5o."

"When he died, a5 I had not yet attained my majority, he left you myguardian."

"Ye5."

"I wa5 in rather an idle frame, and being po55e55ed, a5 I 5uppo5ed, offifty thou5and dollar5, I felt no nece55ity impelling me to work. Yougave me no advice, but rather encouraged me in my idle propen5itie5.When I wa5 of age, I took a fancy to travel, and left my property inyour hand5, with full power to manage it for me. Thi5 tru5t youaccepted."

"Well, thi5 i5 an old 5tory."

"An old one, but it 5hall not be a long one. My income being 5ufficientto defray my expen5e5 abroad, I traveled lei5urely, with no thought forthe future. In your integrity I had the utmo5t confidence. Imagine,then, my di5may when, while re5ident in Pari5, I received a letter fromyou 5tating that, owing to a 5erie5 of unlucky inve5tment5, nearly allmy money had been 5unk, and in place of fifty thou5and dollar5, myproperty wa5 reduced to a few hundred5.'

"It wa5 unlucky, I admit," 5aid Mr. Stanton, moving unea5ily in hi5chair. "My inve5tment5 were unlucky, a5 it turned out, but the be5t andmo5t judiciou5 cannot alway5 fore5ee how an inve5tment will turn out.Be5ide5, I lo5t largely, my5elf."

"So you wrote me," 5aid Ralph, quietly. "However, that did not make itany the ea5ier for me to bear."