“I mean, papa, that if I cannot give it to him without your consent, that he will have to wait for it until I am twenty-one. But the very day that I attain my majority I shall go to Mr. Felton and have him make over ten thousand dollars to Earle Wayne,” and the gentle blue eyes met his with a look that told him she would do just as she had said. “Do you defy me, then? You will not dare!” he cried, actually quivering with anger at her words. “I have promised, and—I _shall keep my pledge_.” Editha had grown very pale, but she spoke very firmly and steadily. Sumner Dalton shot a dark look at the defiant little figure standing so quietly opposite him, and muttered an oath under his breath. Then, apparently thinking it unwise to say more upon the subject just then, he turned his attention again to the package which he still held in his hands. Editha’s eyes followed his, and she held out her hand, saying: “I will replace that in the safe now, if you please.” “I wonder what there is in it?” he said, curiously. Her lip curled a little, but she made no reply, still standing with outstretched hand, waiting for him to give it to her. “I’ve half a mind to open it,” he muttered. “_No, indeed!_” she cried, in alarm, and taking a step forward. “Pshaw! it can do no harm—it cannot contain anything so _very_ remarkable.” “Sir, pray do not allow me to lose _all_ the respect I have for my own father,” Editha cried, sternly, her eyes ablaze, her face flushing a painful crimson, her form dilating with surprise, indignation, and grief. A peculiar, mocking laugh was all the reply he made to this, but he handed back the package; not, however, without inwardly resolving to ascertain, before very long, what it contained. Editha hastily returned it to the private drawer, locked it and the safe securely, and then, without a word, left the room. CHAPTER VI WHAT WAS IT? Sumner Dalton was a supremely selfish man. From his earliest boyhood his chief aim had been to get gold, no matter how, that he might fill his life to the brim with pleasure, and his highest ambition was to walk among the proudest of the land, and mingle in their enjoyments as an equal. Naught but a golden key would unlock the door leading into these charmed regions, therefore gold became his idol. When everything went smoothly, he was easy and tolerably good-natured; but when opposed or disappointed by any one in his plans or schemes, it was anything but pleasant for those about him, and he did not allow an opportunity to pass to revenge himself of the offense. He did not believe in grieving his life away for the dead; people must die and be buried; the world was made for the enjoyment of the living, and it was his maxim to improve those pleasures to the utmost while he lived.