鲁尼恩谈起自己过去不堪的经历，令人吃惊的是，米尔德里德和他的妈妈是旧识，并曾得到过他妈妈的帮助，两人的关系一下子亲近很多……
With the added light that now came from the gratings in the ceiling every object in the upper room was plainly visible.Runyon began his inspection in a methodical manner，starting at one corner and eyeing the inner wall on every inch of its surface.He tested each block at its corners and edges.The girls watched him listlessly，for they expected no result，having covered the same methods themselves.
At length Runyon was obliged to abandon the wall in despair.
"The opening is there，of course，"he said，"but thatconfounded Cristoval was too clever for us.If I had the rascala here now，I'd strangleb him！"As he stood in the center of the narrow space，looking around him，his eye fell upon the upholstered seats ranged along one side and he regarded them suspiciously.They were box—like affairs，with the surface of the covers padded and cushioned.
He reached down and lifted one of the lids.As he glanced within he uttered an exclamation of astonishment.The box was almost ？lled with bottles，lying regularly on their sides.
"Wine ！"he cried."Now，Miss—I don't remember tohave heard your name—I shall be able to relieve your thirst.""My name is Travers—Mildred Travers，sir；but I can'tdrink wine.""Not to quencha your thirst—just a few swallows ？"he asked，taking a bottle and trying to remove the cork.
"Not a drop，even to save my life，"she replied positively."But I will，Se？or Runyon—I will！"cried Inez eagerly."Runyon ！"exclaimed Mildred，stepping back inamazement and looking at the man rather wildly.
"Excuse me；haven't I introduced myself ？"he asked，looking up."Yes；my name's Runyon."Something in her expression arrested his gaze and he regarded the girl curiously.
"Bulwer Runyon？"she said in a low voice.
He sat down on the box，holding the bottle between his knees.
"They christenedb me that.Very foolishly，I think.Butwhat do you know of Bulwer Runyon？""Your mother—is—Martha Runyon？""To be sure—bless her heart！Ah，you know my mother，then，and that's how you have heard of me.But nothing good，from the dear old lady's lips，I'll be bound.""She really loves you，"replied Mildred quickly；"only—you have disappointed her.""Indeed I have.I've always disappointed her，ever since Ican remember.""You were very extravagant，"said Mildred in a reproachful tone.
"Yes；that was my fault.Father spoiled me；then he died and left all his fortune to mother.Quite right.But mother is pretty close with her money.""Did she not pay all your debts？""Yes；but that was foolish.She reproached me for owing people，which was one of my pet recreations.So she paid the bills，bought me a ranch out here，shipped me into exile and washed her hands of me，declaring that the ranch was my sole inheritance and I must never expect another cent of her fortune.She proposes，I believe，to invest her surplus in charity.Nice idea，wasn't it？""It was very generous in her，"declared Mildred.
"Was it？Well，that's a matter of opinion.But I regard her gift of this ranch as the ？rst step to perpetual a pauperdomb.She tossed the land at me，shuf？ed me off，and then expected me to make a living.""Can't you do that？"asked Mildred wonderingly.
"Make a living on a California ranch！"he said，as if astonished.
"Others do，"she asserted.
"There is no other just like your humble servant，"he assured her，again struggling with the cork."I can't grow enough lemons—it's a lemon ranch she handed me—to pay expenses.The first year I decorated my estate with a mortgage；had to have an automobile，you know.The secondyear I put another plaster on to pay the interest of the first mortgage and a few scattering debts.Third year，the third patch；fourth year，the usual thing.Fifth year—that's this one—the money sharks balked.They said the ranch is loaded to its full capacity.So，I'll have to sell some lemons.""Oh，I'm so sorry！"cried Mildred.
"So am I，thank you.Stupid thing，selling lemons.But the wolf 's at the door and all I can do is shoot lemons at the brutea.Lemons！Wasn't it tart of the dear mother to load me with such an acidulousb estate？Perhaps she imagined it would make me assiduous—eh？""Your mother hoped you would turn over a new leaf and—and redeem your past，"said the girl.
"Well，it's too late to do that now.I can't redeem the past without redeeming the ranch，and that's impossible，"he declared with a grin."But tell me，please，how you happen to be so deep in my mother's con？dence."Mildred hesitated，but re？ected that she really owed him an explanation.
"She protected me when I was in trouble，"she saidsoftly.
