Meantime Orissa was having a hard time at the office endeavoring to avoid a personal conversation with Mr. Burthon. When he came in at nine o’clock he smiled upon her and asked:

“Anything to tell me, Miss Kane?”

She shook her head, flushing a little, and he went to his desk without another word. He seemed abstracted and moody during the forenoon—a return of his old puzzling manner—and Orissa regretted she had not been brave enough to tell him of their decision to reject his offer when he gave her the opportunity.

Nothing more passed between them until after luncheon, but when she reëntered the office Mr. Burthon, who had not gone out, suddenly roused himself and said:

“Come here, please, Miss Kane.”

She obeyed, meekly seating herself in the chair beside his desk.

The man looked at her a long time; not impudently, with direct gaze, but rather speculatively 90and with an expression that seemed to penetrate far beyond her and to consider many things beside her fair face. Finally he asked:

“What conclusion have you reached in regard to your financial matters, of which we spoke Saturday?”

“I’ve talked with my brother, sir, and he dislikes to give up a half interest in his invention.”

“Did you tell him I would furnish all the money that might be required?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And he refused?”

“This aëroplane is very dear to my brother, Mr. Burthon. He cannot bear to transfer a part ownership to another, who would have the right to dictate its future.”

“Pshaw!” exclaimed the broker, impatiently; “the boy’s a fool. There’s scarcely an inventor in the world who hasn’t had to sacrifice an interest in his creation in order to raise money.”

“Stephen won’t do it,” declared Orissa, positively, for she resented the speech.

Mr. Burthon fell silent, drumming on the desk with his fingers, as he always did when in deep thought. Orissa started to rise, thinking the interview closed.

“Wait a moment, please,” he said. “How old are you, Miss Kane?—your name is Orissa, isn’t it?”

91“Yes, sir. I am seventeen.”

“So young! Why, you ought to be in school, instead of at work.”

She made no reply. He watched her awhile, as she sat before him with bent head, and then continued, in the kindly tone he so often used when addressing her:

“Miss Kane—Orissa—I will give your brother all the money he needs, and he may retain the entire interest in his airship. The payment may come from you alone.”

She started and became alert at once, raising her head to look at him inquiringly.

“In other words,” he added, “I’m not especially interested in your brother or his invention; but I am greatly interested in you.”

“Mr. Burthon, I—”

“Listen to me, Orissa, and let me explain. I’m a lonely man, for I have never married—or cared to. You are the only member of the fair sex who has ever attracted me except my sister, whom I regarded with warm affection. When she married that scoundrel Cumberford we became separated forever, and in a few years she died. Since then I have thought of nothing but business. I am now thirty-eight years of age, and in my prime. I have amassed a fortune—something more than a quarter of a million, as you know—and have no 92one to leave it to when I pass away. I should like to leave it to you, Orissa.”

“To me, sir!” she exclaimed, amazed.

“Yes. Your presence here in the office has transformed the place from a barren den to a cozy, homelike apartment. I like to see your sweet face near me, gravely bending over your work. Your personality has charmed me; your lack of affectation, your sincerity and honesty, have won my admiration. I cannot say to you, as a younger man would, that I love you, for I will not take an unfair advantage of one who is as yet a child. But you will become a woman soon, and I want to make you a splendid woman—and a happy one. This is my proposition: place yourself in my hands............