Williams news., 1922-07-14
CHAPTER III-continued.

She, he saw, was listening, like him. self, for the sound of Sherrill's ar rival at the house; and when 1t came she recognized it first, rose, and ex- cused herself. He heard her voice in the hall, then her fathers deeper voice which answered; and ten minutes later. he looked up to see the man these things had told him must be SherrilI standing in the door and look ing at him.
 Alan had arisen at sight of him 1; Sherrill, as he came in, motioned him back to his seat; he did not sit down himself, but crossed to the mantel and leaned against it.
 "I am Lawrence Sherriu," he said.
 As the tall, graceful, thoughtful man stood looking down at him, Alan could tell nothing of the attitude of this friend of Benjamin Corvet to- ward himself. His manner had the same reserve toward Alan, the same questioning consideration of him, that Constance Sherrin had had after Alan had told her about himself.
 My daughter has repeated to me what you told her, MT. Conrad" SherriH observed "Is there anything you want to add to me regarding that?'
 There's nothing I can add" Alan answered. '1 told her all that I know about myself"
 And about MT. Corvet?"
 'I know nothing at all about MT. Corvet"
 q am going to tell you some things about MT. Corvet." ShsrriI said. 'I had reason-I do not want to explain just yet what that reason was-for thinking you could tell us certain things about MT. Corvet, which would, perhaps, make plainer what has hap pened to him. When tell you about him now, it is in the hope that, in that way, I may awake some forgotten memory of him in you; if not that, '-ou may discover some coincidence of dates or events in Carvet's life with 3ates or events in your own. Will you tell me frankly. If you do discover any thing like that?"
 "Yes; certainly"
 For several moments, Sherrfu paced up and down before the fire; then he returned to his place before the nantel.
 "T first met Benjamin Corvet," he commenced, nearly thirty years ago. had come West for the first time the year before; I was about your own age and had been graduated from college only a short time, and a busi-. ness opening had offered itself here. Times were booming on the Great Lakes. Chicago, which had more than recovered from the fire, was doubling its population every decade; C1eve- land, Duluth, and Milwaukee were leaping up as ports. Men were grow sng millions of bushels of grain which they couldn't ship except by lake; hundreds of thousands of tons of ore had to go by water; and there were tens of millions of feet of pine and hardwood from the Michigan forests. Sailing vessels, it is true, had seen their day and were disappearing from the lakes; were being 'sold,' many of them. as the saying is, to the insur- ance companies by deliberate wreck ing. Steamers were taking their place Towing had come in. I felt, young man though was, that this trans portation matter was all one thing and that in the end the railroads would own the ships. I have never engaged very actively in the operation of the ships; Try daughter would like me to be more active in 1t than have been; but ever since, I have had money in lake vessels It was the year flat l began that sort of invest men. that I first met Corvet."
 Alan looked up quickly. 'Mr. Cor vet was-?" he asked.
 "Corvet was-is a 1akeman," Sher- Till said.
 Alan sat motionlesz, as he recol- fected the strange eXaltation that had come to him when he saw the lake for the first time. Should he tell Sherrill of that? He decided it was too vague, too indefinite to be men, toned no doubt any other man used only to the prairie might have felt the same.
 "He was a shipowner, then," he said.
 "Yes; he was a shipOwner-not, however, on a large scale at that time. He had been a master, sailing ships which belonged to others; then he had sailed one of his own. He was operating then, believe. two vessels; hut with the boom times on the lakes.