"What are your plans for the future?" "I haven't decided," Jeff said seriously. "But I like Smithville, and if things continue to get as well as they've started out, in the next three or four years I'll be able to build up a good business right in Smithville." "I see. Do you have any ideas about Dan's 'throwing in' with you?" "Yes I do," Jeff confessed. "I like him and I'd like to have him; Tarrant and Blazer would be a mighty good team. But first he must have an education." "Why?" "So he'll know what I have never learned. I read as much as I can, but that's not as good as solid groundwork in school." "If you pay for his education, would you insist on his later services?" "No, he can choose his own way." "You're willing to be responsible for him on such a basis?" "Yes, sir. Wh--what is your tuition fee?" "Mr. Blazer paid--" Mr. Nelson named half the sum Jeff had expected. "What do you wish to have me do?" "I want only your written confirmation that Dan is in my care." "May I also say that you are to return him to us by September fourteenth?" "Certainly." "All right. Miss Jackson, may I borrow your desk?" The confirming letter in an inside pocket, Jeff strode happily out of the school. It had all been much simpler than he had thought possible, but Mr. Nelson was an understanding person. Jeff knew that he himself had undergone one of the most severe examinations of his life--and had passed it. Relieved about Dan, he could now give his whole attention to the business at hand. It was a long way to the Kennard, but Jeff did not want to hail or phone for a taxi as yet because the neighborhood, and the stores he had seen, interested him. He walked back the way he had come, saw the stores ahead, and halted in front of the Murchison Galleries. He wanted to assure himself that he had seen what he thought he had seen, and it was there. In the window, somehow accentuated by the very simplicity of its surroundings, was a tapestry that depicted a bowl of crocuses in bloom. Though he did not know a great deal about tapestries, Jeff realized that this was a very fine one. But mentally he compared it to Granny's, and decided that hers was better. Jeff entered the galleries. Though only fair-sized, the arrangement of the interior loaned an illusion of spaciousness and its air was one of quiet refinement. There were paintings on the walls and others on easels, and without examining them too closely, Jeff knew that the way they were placed added much to their effectiveness. He turned to meet the man coming toward him and was greeted with a pleasant, "Good morning." He said it as though he were welcoming a guest into his house, and Jeff responded in kind. "Good morning. I think you may save my life!" "Indeed?" The man arched his brows. "You hardly seem on the verge of expiring." "I really am, though. You do know something about tapestries?" "A bit." The man smiled indulgently. "What do you wish?"