If she could only have had these misgivings about Mr. Burke himself, instead of their being about the cousin who, I think, says very little that he does not really mean! Always the wrong people get credit for insincerity! "I am not a flatterer, believe me," said Mr. Hiram P. Jessop. "If you think that I don't mean anything I say nice to you, why! I am going to be very sad. I would like to have only nice things to say to you," he added regretfully, "and I tell you it is coming real hard on me--harder than I thought it would be, to have to say the difficult things I have gotten to say now, Cousin Nellie." So now he was coming to the business end of the interview! The part where he meant to tell Million that her appreciative and gallant cousin was possibly going to walk off with that fortune of hers! I rose from my chair. I said respectfully: "Shall I go, Miss, if Mr. Jessop is going to talk family affairs?" CHAPTER XXVII AN UNUSUAL SORT OF BEGGAR "I GUESS it's not any different 'business' from what I have told you, coming along in the car, Miss Smith," said the young American simply. "Don't quit on my account." "No, nor on mine neither," said Miss Million, turning quite anxiously to me. "You stop on and hear the end of this, so that me and you can talk it over like, later. "Now, then," turning to her cousin again, "what's it all about?" "To cut a long story short," said the young American, in that earnest way of his that is really rather lovable. "You see before you, Cousin Nellie, a man who is"--he paused impressively before he brought out half a dozen pregnant words--"very badly in want of money!" "Gracious! I must say I should not have thought it," ejaculated Million, with a note of the native shrewdness which I had suspected her of having left behind in our Putney kitchen. "If you are poor"--here her bright grey eyes travelled up her cousin's appearance from his quite new-looking American shoes to his well-kept thick and glossy hair--"if you are poor, all I can say is your looks don't pity you!" "I need not point out to you that looks are a very poor proposition to go by when you are starting in on summing up a person's status," said the young American easily. "I may not look it, but money is a thing that I am desperate for."