The spectator., 1922-04-25
CHAPTER lil-Continued.

She, he saw, was listening, like him self, for the sound of Sherrilrs ar rival at the house; and when it came sine 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 Sherrlll standing in the door and look ing at him.
 Alan had arisen at sight of him. 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.
 Il am Lawrence Sherril," 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 Sherrill had had after Alan had told her about himself.
 My daughter has repeated to me what you told her, MT. Conrad" Sherrill observed. "Is there anything you want to add to me regarding thatY'
 "There's nothing I can add" Alan answered T told her all that know about myself"
 And about Mir. Corvet?'
 'I know nothing at all about Mir Corvet."
 II am going to tell you some things about MT. Corvet," Sherril said. II had reason-I do not want to explain just yet what that reason was-for thinking you could tell us certain things about Mir. Corvet, which would perhaps, make plainer what has hap pened to him. When 1 tell you about him now, it is in the hope that, in that way, may awake some forgotten memory of him in you; if not that, you may discover some coincidence of dates or events in Corvet's life with dates or events in your own, Will you tell me frankly. If you do discover any thing like that?"
 'Yes; certainly"
 For several moments, Sherrill paced up and down before the fire; then he returned to his place before the mantel.
 '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 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; Cleve- land, Duluth, and Milwaukee were leapiug up as ports. Men were grow ing millions of bushels of grain which they couldn't ship except by lake ; hundreds of thousands of tons of ore had to so by water; and there were .ens 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 lahes; were heinz sold many of them, IS the saying is. to the insur- ance companies by deliberate wreck ing. Steamers were taking their place Towing had come in. I felt young mnn though I 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: my daughter would like me to be more active in it than I have been: but ever since, I have had money in lake vessels. It was the year that began that sort of invest ment that first met Corvet."
 Alan looked up quickly. MT Cor vet was--?'' he asked
 ''Corvet was--is a lakemap," Sher- rill said.
 Alan sat motionless, as he recol- iected 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 sar1e.
 "isa was shipOwner, then" he sni,l.
 "les: he was shipowner-not, however. on q large scale at that time. He had been n master. sailing ships which belonged to others: then he had sailed one of his own. He was operating then, believe. two vessels l; Aas s.... l..- hvvsn times or the l..kes,