"All I had in the world," moaned the housekeeper. "Yes, sir; I regret to say that she has been robbed." "I learn, moreover, that a part of the bonds were brought to my office for sale to-day?" "Yes, sir." "And by Grant Thornton?" "He can answer that question for himself, sir. He is present." "It is true," said Grant, quietly. "Did you ask him where the bonds came from?" "He volunteered the information. He said they were intrusted to him for sale by a friend." "Acquaintance," corrected Grant. "It may have been so. I understood him to say friend." "You had no suspicions that anything was wrong?" asked the broker. "No; I felt perfect confidence in the boy." Grant was rather surprised to hear this. If this were the case, Willis Ford had always been very successful, in concealing his real sentiments. "How did you pay him?" "In a check to his own order." "Have you collected the money on that check, Grant?" asked Mr. Reynolds. "Yes, sir." "Have you paid it out to the party from whom you obtained the bonds?" "No, sir; I am to meet him to-morrow morning at the Fifth Avenue Hotel." Willis Ford's countenance changed when he heard this statement. He supposed that Jim Morrison already had his money and was safely off with it. Now it was clear that Grant would not be allowed to pay it to him, and his own debt would remain unpaid. That being the case,