"Yes! you bet I gave old Cartwright
the staggers!" He laughed down the
twinge of agony in his voice. "Called
him up on the long distance telephone,
told him I was Treffrey Graham back;
that I had been in the East nearly six
months, with my son; that I came pretty
near disclosing myself on the--on the day
when the third installment of my brother's
will was read--actually walked up to
the door of my sister's house, then shied
off, because ... Oh, gosh! this knee."

The voice broke; it had really become
a feverish babble of excitement now--pain's
wild excitement.

"Well! What was I saying--yes! I
didn't ring the bell because I hadn't made
up my mind whether I wanted to claim
any share of my brother's fortune, or not;
you see he hadn't been very fair to me
in youth--taking away my sweetheart.
None of my family had--for--that--matter!
I didn't know whether I wanted
to meet them again. Although I liked the
[[275]]

p274 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p275w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p276

v?