"Oh, I see," replied Hibbert, laughing with keen enjoyment. "You think my invitation a bait for services that I expect presently to demand. Nothing of the sort, I assure you. All I want is someone to talk to for the next half hour. Won't you oblige me?" "Mr. Hibbert," broke in Dave suddenly, "I've just happened to remember that there is a man in town who wants to talk with you. We met him at the station, and he inquired where he could find you." "I think I know whom you mean," admitted Hibbert. "We told him you were stopping at the Eagle Hotel," Greg added. "Then, if the man who is looking for me went to the Eagle Hotel, he has already learned that I am elsewhere. It's his business to find me, not mine to run about town seeking him. He can find me as well in the ice cream shop as in any other place. Will you young men oblige me with your company?" At a nod from Darrin the others fell in line. Mr. Hibbert led the way across the street, entering the shop, which proved to be empty of other customers. As the waitress approached the two tables to take the orders for ice cream the host of the occasion turned to his guests. "Give the young woman your orders, gentlemen," said Alonzo Hibbert. "Strawberry," said Tom. "Vanilla," requested Dave. "Oh, fudge!" interposed their host. "We haven't any fudge ice cream, sir," remarked the waitress without smiling. "I cried fudge on their orders," remarked Hibbert gayly. "They are too modest. Young woman, have you still some of those cantaloupes, which you cut open and fill with different flavors of cream and water ice?" "Yes, sir." "Then, young gentlemen, permit me to change the order to one of those cantaloupes for each of you." The waitress departed on her errand, while Reade and Darrin glanced at each other, somewhat aghast. The delicacy ordered by Mr. Hibbert cost a quarter of a dollar a portion. When the orders were brought and placed on the table, Alonzo Hibbert draw from his pocket a roll of bills, stripping off the outermost and handing it to the waitress. Yet their host gave no sign of attempting to make a vulgar display of his money. He seemed rather unconscious of the possession of it. "Are these favorites of yours?" inquired Mr. Hibbert presently of Greg, indicating the multi-colored load of ices, each resting in a half of a cantaloupe. "Not exactly favorites," Greg replied. "We don't often have the money to spend on such an expensive treat." "Don't you?" inquired Hibbert in a tone of considerable surprise, as though wondering why everyone in the world wasn't as well supplied with money as he himself was. Then, after a pause, their host asked of Greg: "Would you like always to have plenty of money?" "I suppose everyone would like that," murmured young Holmes. "Shall I make a prediction?" inquired Hibbert. "By all means, if it pleases you," Greg answered politely. "Then, Greg Holmes, I venture to assert that you will very shortly find yourself a millionaire."