"Certainly. I shall be glad to have you stay with me. My wife and children are out of town--visiting a sister of hers in Hartford--but the servants will see that we are comfortable." "All the better. Of course I should have been glad to see Mrs. Walton and the children, but now you can give me more attention." "I wonder whether he wants to borrow money," thought the merchant, with some uneasiness. "If he does, I shall refuse as civilly as I can. I don't propose to be a prey to impecunious relatives. I need all the money I can command to further my own schemes. In three or four years, if things go well, I shall be able to move to Broadway, and then our family can take a higher social position. My wife would like to have me move at once, but I don't choose to do anything rashly. The time has not yet come for so important a step." "We will go now," said Mr. Walton. "The clerks will close up. If you will walk as far as the Bowery, we will board a Fourth avenue car." "Do you still live on Twelfth street, Nicholas?" "Yes. Mrs. Walton urges me to take a house on Madison avenue, but I must not go too fast." "You are prospering, I take it, Nicholas?" "He is feeling his way toward a loan, I am afraid," thought the merchant. "Yes, I am making headway," he admitted, warily, "but I have to be very cautious. Oftentimes I am short of money, I assure you. In fact, I am hampered by my small capital." "My neighbors in Sunderland would be surprised to hear that," said Dr. Baker, smiling. "They look upon you as one of the merchant princes of New York." "Do they?" said Walton, looking gratified. "Some day I hope to be what they think I am now." "You will be, if you are not too much in haste." "So I hope. And you, I hope you are prospering?" said the merchant, guardedly. "I have no cause for complaint," said his brother-in-law, "especially now." "What does he mean by 'especially now?'" thought the merchant. "I am glad to hear it," he said, aloud. Arrived at the house in Twelfth street--it was a plain brick house of three stories--dinner was found to be awaiting, and as they sat down at once, there was no opportunity for a private conversation. When the cloth was removed, and they were left to themselves, Walton invited his brother-in-law's confidence by saying, suggestively: "So business of importance brought you to New York, doctor?" "Yes, business of great importance!" "I suppose it seems great to him," thought Walton. "Well," he said aloud, "you have aroused my curiosity. It is only fair to gratify it." "That is what I propose to do. Let me say, then, that this day has made a great change in me." "I don't see any change," said Walton, puzzled. "Yet it has; I awoke this morning a poor man. To-night I am rich." "You--haven't been speculating?" said Walton, curiously. "No; I had no money to speculate with. But to-day a fortune has come to me." "A fortune! How much?" "One hundred thousand dollars!" answered the physician.