TO HIRAM CLAPP, ESQ., _This Book_ IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY HIS FRIEND WILLIAM T. ADAMS. [Illustration: DRIFTING TO SEA.] THREE MILLIONS! OR THE WAY OF THE WORLD BY WILLIAM T. ADAMS (_OLIVER OPTIC_) AUTHOR OF “LIVING TOO FAST,” “IN DOORS AND OUT,” “TAKEN BY THE ENEMY,” “WITHIN THE ENEMY’S LINES,” “ON THE BLOCKADE,” ETC. _ILLUSTRATED_ BOSTON MDCCCXCI LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS 10 MILK STREET NEXT “THE OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE” Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by WILLIAM T. ADAMS, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. Copyright, 1894, by WILLIAM T. ADAMS THE WAY OF THE WORLD CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. THREE MILLIONS. 7 II. MR. ELIOT BUCKSTONE. 21 III. THE HUNGERFORD FAMILY. 33 IV. OFF THE GREAT BELL. 45 V. THE KINGMAN FAMILY. 58 VI. A STRANGE STORY. 71 VII. POOR MARY! 83 VIII. TO EUROPE AND BACK. 96 IX. HEALING THE WOUNDS. 109 X. ROSS KINGMAN. 122 XI. DOCTOR BILKS. 135 XII. DICK BIRCH. 144 XIII. DICK UNDER A SHADOW. 161 XIV. IN THE LIBRARY. 174 XV. DR. BILKS ON THE STAND. 188 XVI. DR. BILKS’S BABY. 203 XVII. THE SETTLEMENT. 217 XVIII. EVIDENCE WANTED. 231 XIX. THE ROPE AND THE WEIGHT. 244 XX. THE SHADOW AT PINE HILL. 256 XXI. THE DEMIGOD OF PINE HILL. 269 XXII. DICK BIRCH’S SUGGESTION. 282 XXIII. JULIA HUNGERFORD. 296 XXIV. POPPLETON GOSPEL. 309 XXV. DOCTOR LYNCH. 321 XXVI. THE PENITENT DEMIGOD. 335 XXVII. THE VERDICT. 349 XXVIII. THE DOCTOR HIMSELF AGAIN. 362 XXIX. FORGIVE AND FORGET. 374 XXX. THE RUSTIC BRIDGE. 387 XXXI. A HOMŒOPATHIC DOSE. 400 XXXII. CRIMINAL CARELESSNESS. 412 XXXIII. DICK BIRCH AND LADY. 425 XXXIV. THIRTY YEARS OLD. 438 XXXV. THE LAST OF THE THREE MILLIONS. 450 THE WAY OF THE WORLD. CHAPTER I. THREE MILLIONS. Three million dollars! In round numbers, three million dollars, after the legacies to individuals and the bequests to charitable institutions had been paid!