Presently the door of the bank opened, and Sibley saw Studd Bradley lean
forward eagerly, then draw back and speak hurriedly to his companions,
using a gesture of satisfaction.

"Something damn funny there!" Sibley said to himself, and stepped
forward to Crozier with a friendly exclamation. Crozier turned rather
impatiently, for his face was aflame with some exciting reflection. At
this moment his eyes were the deepest blue that could be imagined--an
almost impossible colour, like that of the Mediterranean when it reflects
the perfect sapphire of the sky. There was something almost wonderful
in their expression. A woman once said as she looked at a picture of
Herschel, whose eyes had the unworldly gaze of the great dreamer looking
beyond this sphere, "The stars startled him." Such a look was in
Crozier's eyes now, as though he was seeing the bright end of a
long road, the desire of his soul.

That, indeed, was what he saw. After two years of secret negotiation he
had (inspired by information dropped by Jesse Bulrush, his fellow-
boarder) made definite arrangements for a big land-deal in connection
with the route of a new railway and a town-site, which would mean more
to him than any one could know. If it went through, he would, for an
investment of ten thousand dollars, have a hundred and fifty thousand
dollars; and that would solve an everlasting problem for him.

He had reached a critical point in his enterprise. All that was wanted
now was ten thousand dollars in cash to enable him to close the great
bargain and make his hundred and fifty thousand. But to want ten
thousand dollars and to get it in a given space of time, when you have
neither securities, cash, nor real estate, is enough to keep you awake at