"For land sakes!" exclaimed his wife at length, for she was being kept awake, "can't you doze off, Ezra?" "No, I can't seem to, Samanthy." "Maybe your railroad trip upsot ye?" "No, I guess not. I think I'll sleep now. I've had lots to think of, Samanthy." Once more he shifted his position and tried to close his eyes, but they would not stay shut. He found himself staring up at the ceiling in the darkness. He arose, got a drink of water, and came back to bed. But he seemed more wide-awake than ever. "Ezra," called his wife again, "are you thinkin' of the dollar an' nineteen cents you once lost? Maybe that's what's keepin' you awake." "No, it ain't that, Samanthy." "Then, what is it?" "I can't tell you." "Why, Ezra. You ain't in trouble; be ye? You ain't goin' to keep a secret from me; be ye?" "I ain't in trouble, no, Samanthy, but I've got to keep this thing quiet until--well, until I'm ready to tell it." "But what's it about, Ezra?" "Well, it's about Nephew Richard and his money. He'll run through his mother's fortune in no time, if I don't take a hand and save it." "Do tell, Ezra! What are you goin' to do?" "Samanthy, I'm going to do something desperate! I've got to do it to save Dick. Why, his father's as crazy as he is about spending money. I've got to do something desperate." "You--you won't get arrested for it; will you, Ezra?" "I hope not. But go to sleep, Samanthy. I'll tell you about it--when it's time," and, having thus gotten this much of the plot off his mind, Uncle Ezra turned over and went to sleep. But he did not have pleasant dreams. CHAPTER V DICK IS SHADOWED Bearing a letter to his father's attorneys in New York, Messrs. Blake & Carrington, Dick started for the metropolis the second day after his uncle's visit. "Now use your own judgment about getting your yacht," said the millionaire to his son, "but, of course, be guided by the lawyers. Buying a steam craft is rather a large operation, especially if you don't know much about it." Highly elated at the prospect of the good times before him, Dick sat in the parlor car of the fast express, as he was whirled toward the big city, and made plan after plan. "I'll get a lot of the fellows, some from the academy and some from town, and we'll have a glorious time yachting," he told himself. "We'll go up the New England coast, and down to Florida and maybe even to Bermuda and to Cuba, and--by Jove I've a good notion to try to double Cape Horn! That would be something to talk about when I got back." It did not seem to occur to Dick that he was laying out sufficient travel for several vacations, all in one. But it's lots of fun to make plans, especially when you have the money to carry them out--and sometimes even when you haven't.