“He had a mighty high idea of the Drakes, did Uncle Roger, and he never liked my mother. To the day of her death he was barely civil to her. That’s what I couldn’t forgive in him, for all his cold and formal kindness to me. Damn it! He ignored her and she was worth a hundred like Roger Drake. “From all accounts, my Uncle Roger was a warm baby at college. He was the only original Ducky Drake; all others were base imitations. Come back to li’l’ ol’ N’ York--lawyer; man about town; clubs; Tottie Twinkletoes; birds and bottles at proper temperatures! New York took his roll away from him. “Did he buckle down to business and, by frugal industry--and so on? He did not. He faded away into the dim blue and the tall green. Honest, Jonesy, this is rotten of me--knockin’ like this! But if you’re going to help me play Money, money, who’s got Uncle Ducky’s money? this is what you want to know. It was the keynote of his character that he wanted all the beastly junk money will buy, but wasn’t willing to hop out and hustle for the money. He wanted it quick, easy and often.” “Mind if I take notes?” “’Eavings, no! Well, six years afterward he came back. A distant relative--great-aunt or something--had left him a sizable legacy. Business of killing calf. So he took his money and poor old dad’s and set to work to found an estate. Mother didn’t know about it. I happened along about that time and she took quite a fancy to me; didn’t notice other things. “It doesn’t seem possible that any one could consistently lose money in real estate in a thrifty, growing burg like New York, does it? Uncle Roger did. Then he ducked again. “Some ten years later, back to New York--who comes here? Is it my long-lost uncle? It is. Talked vaguely of holdings in New Mexico. Had the mazuma, and spent it. He stayed all winter; then back to New Mex. That’s been the program ever since--four to six months in New York, the rest out here. But he didn’t talk about New Mexico and he didn’t urge us to visit him there. “To do him justice, he made good on one point. He came through with good hard coin for dad. He was really very fond of poor old dad, and he’d always been sore at himself about losing dad’s wad. And, as I said, he put his ungrateful nephew through school. “Two months ago we found him dead in his bed--heart disease. His will left all his property to me unconditionally. But where and what was his property? He hadn’t told us; and naturally dad hadn’t felt like asking him.