“But what can I do?” said Barker eagerly.  “You’re not going to leave me out.”

“You’ve done quite enough for us, old man,” said Stacy, laying his hand on Barker’s shoulder.  “And it may be for us to do something for you.  Trot off to bed now, like a good boy.  I’ll keep you posted when the time comes.”

Shoving the protesting and leave-taking Barker with paternal familiarity from the room, he closed the door and faced Demorest.

“He’s the best fellow in the world,” said Stacy quietly, “and has saved the situation; but we mustn’t trust too much to him for the present—­not even seem to.”

“Nonsense, man!” said Demorest impatiently.  “You’re letting your prejudices go too far.  Do you mean to say that you suspect his wife.”

“D—­n his wife!” said Stacy almost savagely.  “Leave her out of this.  It’s Van Loo that I suspect.  It was Van Loo who I knew was behind it, who expected to profit by it, and now we have lost him.”

“But how?” said Demorest, astonished.

“How?” repeated Stacy impatiently.  “You know what Barker said?  Van Loo, either through stupidity, fright, or the wish to get the lowest prices, was too late to buy up the market.  If he had, we might have openly declared the forgery, and if it was known that he or his friends had profited by it, even if we could not have proven his actual complicity, we could at least have made it too hot for him in California.  But,” said Stacy, looking intently at his friend, “do you know how the case stands now?”

“Well,” said Demorest, a little uneasily under his friend’s keen eyes, “we’ve lost that chance, but we’ve kept control of the stock.”

“You think so?  Well, let me tell you how the case stands and the price we pay for it,” said Stacy deliberately, as he folded his arms and gazed at Demorest.  “You and I, well known as old friends and former partners, for no apparent reason—­for we cannot prove the forgery now—­have thrown upon the market all our stock, with the usual effect of depreciating it.  Another old friend and former partner has bought it in and sent up the price.  A common trick, a vulgar trick, but not a trick worthy of James Stacy or Stacy’s Bank!”

“But why not simply declare the forgery without making any specific charge against Van Loo?”

“Do you imagine, Phil, that any man would believe it, and the story of a providentially appointed friend like Barker who saved us from loss?  Why, all California, from Cape Mendocino to Los Angeles, would roar with laughter over it!  No!  We must swallow it and the reputation of ‘jockeying’ with the Wheat Trust, too.  That Trust’s as good as done for, for the present!  Now you know why I didn’t want poor Barker to know it, nor have much to do with our search for the forger.”

“It would break the dear fellow’s heart if he knew it,” said Demorest.

“Well, it’s to save him from having his heart broken further that I intend to find out this forger,” said Stacy grimly.  “Good-night, Phil!  I’ll telegraph to you when I want you, and then come!”