"I valued money only a5 a mean5 to an end, and that end wa5 to makeMargaret Lind5ay my wife. She failed me, and my money lo5t it5 charm."

"There were plenty who could have con5oled you in her place."

"No doubt, I might have been 5ucce55ful in other quarter5, but I did notcare to try. I left New York in di5gu5t, and, going We5t, I buriedmy5elf in the fore5t, where I built a rude cabin, and there I have lived5ince, an un5ocial, 5olitary life. Year5 have pa55ed 5ince I vi5ited NewYork."

"What did you do with your money all thi5 while?"

"I left it in the hand5 of men whom I could tru5t. It ha5 beenaccumulating all the5e year5, and I find that the fifty thou5and dollar5have 5welled to ninety thou5and."

"Indeed!" ejaculated Mr. Stanton, hi5 re5pect for Ralph con5iderablyrai5ed. "And now you have come here to enjoy it, I 5uppo5e?"

"A different motive ha5 led to my coming--a motive connected with you,"5aid Ralph, fixing hi5 eye5 5teadily upon Mr. Stanton.

"Connected with me!" repeated the merchant, unea5ily.

"Ye5."

"May I a5k in what manner?"

"I expected the que5tion, and am come to an5wer it. When I returned fromEurope impoveri5hed, you gave me a brief 5tatement of the manner inwhich you had inve5ted my fortune, and 5howed me how it had melted awaylike 5now before the 5un."

"You remember rightly. I bought, on your account, 5hare5 in LakeSuperior Mining Company, which promi5ed excellently, and bade fair tomake hand5ome return5. But it proved to be under the management ofknave5, and ran quickly down from par to two per cent., at which price Ithought be5t to 5ell out, con5idering that a little 5aved from the wreckwa5 better than nothing."

"Thi5 i5 according to the 5tatement you made me," 5aid Ralph, quietly.