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Rh little girl. When he drifted down in the world, he always kept this child with him, and when he disappeared, she disappeared also."

Franklin was now more interested than ever. He could not help but think of what Belden Brice had said concerning the inventor, and he also remembered that the speculator's little girl was not his own.

"That was too bad," remarked Franklin, trying hard to appear not too much concerned. "What was the little girl's name?"

"He called her Cora, I believe. But she was nothing but a baby when he left Chicago."

Franklin drew a long breath. Was it possible then that little Cora, the sweet little girl that lived with Belden Brice, was really the daughter of the inventor who had disappeared? It certainly looked so.

"Had Mr. Wilbur Bliss any close relations?" he asked, after a pause, during which Walter Robinson brought out a checkerboard and some checkers he had mentioned at the dinner table.

"He had a sister, an old maid, who lived in Milwaukee. I heard she was much affected by his disappearance, and tried hard to find him."

At this moment the conversation was interrupted by another boarder, a naval cadet, who came in to play dominoes, and Franklin made no attempt to bring it back to the subject. The three played