If he had been present in the broker's office, he would have heard something to confirm the distrust he felt. When Peter Kirby was asked by the broker's clerk, as usual, his name, he hesitated for a second, then answered boldly "Renwick Bates." So in the broker's book the sale of bonds was recorded as having been made to Renwick Bates. Had the squire known this, he would have felt very angry with his confederate, as, in case the fifty-dollar notes were traced, his name would be involved. Guy and Dean were taking supper at a restaurant not far from the hotel when Mr. Kirby came in and sat down at a table near them. Guy was the first to notice him. "There's your respected employer, Dean," he said in a low voice. "So he is. I wonder whether I ought to speak to him." "Wait till you get through supper." Presently another man came in and took a seat at the same table. He seemed to have been expected. "You're late, Pringle," said Kirby. "Yes, I was detained. I went to Jersey City to see my wife." "You are better provided than I. I have never found time to get married." "Well, it's awkward sometimes in our business to have such an incumbrance." "Does your wife know what business you are in?" "Scarcely. She's a good church woman, and would be horrified. She thinks I am a traveling salesman." Kirby laughed. "I have no wife to deceive," he said. "That is where I have the advantage of you. However, you are no worse off than the captain. I've been up to see him." "Where?" "In the country," answered Kirby evasively. "He's a big gun out there. They call him squire." Both laughed. "So he is married?" "Yes, and has a son who is his very image, even to the long, tusk-like teeth. If ever he gets into trouble it's because they will give him away." "They certainly are very peculiar." "They are dangerous," responded Kirby with emphasis. "If I had them I would get rid of them in short order, but the captain owned to me that he was afraid of the dentist." "I suppose his family are in the dark as to his position?" "Undoubtedly. His son is an impudent young cub. It would have given me pleasure to box his ears. He evidently thinks his father a man of great importance, and is inflated by his own estimate of his social consequence." "What makes the captain stay in such an obscure place?" "He tells me it is on account of his family, and also because it adds to his safety." "When are we to see him?" "He will be in Chicago next month, and lay out work for us to do. One thing I will say for him, he has good executive talent, but he ought not to keep out of the way so much of the time." Then the talk drifted into other channels.