“Who had neither home nor friends?”
“That is true yet.”
“Have I been a just master to thee?”
“Thou hast.”
“Thou, too, hast been a just and faithful 148 servant. I have trusted thee with every thing. All has been under thy thumb. I locked not gold from thee. I counted not after thee. I have had full confidence in thee. Well, then, it seems that my good name is also in thy hands. Now, if thou doest thy duty, thou wilt tell me what Tulloch said.”
“He said thou had been the ruin of a better man than thyself.”
“Meaning Jan Vedder?”
“That was whom he meant.”
“Dost thou think so?”
“Yes, I think so, too.”