'No; tell me now. What friends do you mean? I haven't many.'
'You have one who stands for a host. If she were such a friend to me, I wouldn't call the king my uncle.'
'She!'
'I see you must hear it. Briefly, then, this was the way of it. The business was for sale, Chris, my boy. Money had to be paid for it--not much, but too much for a poor actor whose purse has always resembled a sieve. I had saved a little, but not more than half what was required for the purchase of the goodwill. I mention this in the presence of these friends of yours----'
I interrupted him.
'Don't let us have any mystery, Turk. Who are they?'
'Jessie the peerless and Mr. Glover.'
I started. Turk continued:
'I mention this in their presence, and lament my impecuniosity. Jessie sympathises with me--wishes that she had money, so that she might help me. She has a heart of gold, Chris, my boy, a heart of gold. Two or three days afterwards, Mr. Glover sends for me--says he has been considering the matter, and that he is disposed to assist me. He goes further than being disposed to do it--he does it. In short, he provides half the purchase-money, and there we are. It is a matter of business, Chris, my boy. I asked him to make a matter of business of it, and he said he intended to do so; and he has. Mr. Glover is a moneylender, and he lends me the money at ten per cent. But there's one thing I'm certain of. He wouldn't have done it but for Jessie.'
I reflected with some bitterness on this information.