“No,” said she, “they had some kind of a quarrel.  What was the matter?”

“I don’t know anything about it,” was the answer.  “But Ryder is a free lance, and a new man, and Duval works with the big men who don’t like to have trespassers about.”

Lucy was silent for a minute; her brows were knit in thought.  “Is it really true that Mr. Ryder’s position is so unstable?  I thought the Gotham Trust Company was one of the largest institutions in the country.  What are those huge figures that you see in their advertisements,—­seventy millions—­eighty millions—­what is it?”

“Something like that,” said Montague.

“And is not that true?” she asked.

“Yes, I guess that’s true,” he said.  “I don’t know anything about Ryder’s affairs, you know—­I simply hear the gossip.  Everyone says he is playing a bold game.  You take my advice, and keep your money somewhere else.  You have to be doubly careful because you have enemies.”

“Enemies?” asked Lucy, in perplexity.

“Have you forgotten what Waterman said to you?” Montague asked.

“You don’t mean to tell me,” cried she, “that you think that Waterman would interfere with Mr. Ryder on my account.”

“It sounds incredible, I know,” said Montague, “but such things have happened before this.  If anyone knew the inside stories of the battles that have shaken Wall Street, he would find that many of them had some such beginning.”

Montague said this casually, and with nothing in particular in mind.  He was not watching his friend closely, and he did not see the effect which his words had produced upon her.  He led the conversation into other channels; and he had entirely forgotten the matter the next day, when he received a telephone call from Lucy.

It had been a week since he had written to Smith and Hanson, the lawyers, in regard to the sale of her stock.  “Allan,” she asked, “no letter from those people yet?”

“Nothing at all,” he answered.

“I was talking about it with a friend this morning, and he made a suggestion that I thought was important.  Don’t you think it might be well to find out whom they are representing?”

“What good would that do?” asked Montague.

“It might help us to get an idea of the prospects,” said she.  “I fancy they know who wants to sell the stock, and we ought to know who is thinking of buying it.  Suppose you write them that you don’t care to negotiate with agents.”

“But I am in no position to do that,” said Montague.  “I have already set the people a figure, and they have not replied.  We should only weaken our position by writing again.  It would be much better to try to interest someone else.”

“But I would like to know very much who made that offer,” Lucy insisted.  “I have heard rumours about the stock, and I really would like to know.”

She reiterated this statement several times, and seemed to be very keen about it; Montague wondered a little who had been talking to her, and what she had heard.  But warned by what the Major had told him, he did not ask these questions over the ’phone.  He answered, finally, “I think you are making a mistake, but I will do what you wish.”