"That begun it, Uncle," said Helen, coolly. "Preposterous! What could Prince Morrell be thinking of? Why should I support you, Miss?" "Why, that don't matter so much," remarked Helen, calmly. "I can earn my keep, I reckon. If there's nothing to do in the house I'll go and find me a job and pay my board. But, you see, dad thought I ought to have the refining influences of city life. Good idea; eh?" "A very ridiculous idea! A very ridiculous idea, indeed!" cried Mr. Starkweather. "I never heard the like." "Well, you see, there's another reason why I came, too, Uncle," Helen said, blandly. "What's that?" demanded the gentleman, startled again. "Why, dad told me everything when he died. He--he told me how he got into trouble before he left New York--'way back there before I was born," spoke Helen, softly. "It troubled dad all his life, Uncle Starkweather. Especially after mother died. He feared he had not done right by her and me, after all, in running away when he was not guilty----" "Not guilty!" "Not guilty," repeated Helen, sternly. "Of course, we all know _that_. Somebody got all that money the firm had in bank; but it was not my father, sir." She gazed straight into the face of Mr. Starkweather. He did not seem to be willing to look at her in return; nor could he pluck up the courage to deny her statement. "I see," he finally murmured. "That is the second reason that has brought me to New York," said Helen, more softly. "And it is the more important reason. If you don't care to have me here, Uncle, I will find work that will support me, and live elsewhere. But I _must_ learn the truth about that old story against father. I sha'n't leave New York until I have cleared his name." CHAPTER XIII SADIE AGAIN Mr. Starkweather appeared to recover his equanimity. He looked askance at his niece, however, as she announced her intention. "You are very young and very foolish, Helen--ahem! A mystery of sixteen or seventeen years' standing, which the best detectives could not unravel, is scarcely a task to be attempted by a mere girl." "Who else is there to do it?" Helen demanded, quickly. "I mean to find out the truth, if I can. I want you to tell me all you know, and I want you to tell me how to find Fenwick Grimes----" "Nonsense, nonsense, girl!" exclaimed her uncle, testily. "What good would it do you to find Grimes?" "He was the other partner in the concern. He had just as good a chance to steal the money as father." "Ridiculous! Mr. Grimes was away from the city at the time." "Then you _do_ remember all about it, sir?" asked Helen, quickly. "Ahem! _That_ fact had not slipped my mind," replied her uncle, weakly. "And then, there was Allen Chesterton, the bookkeeper. Was a search ever made for him?" "High and low," returned her uncle, promptly. "But nobody ever heard of him thereafter."