"I know it does. I keep on telling you I'm ready for it—any amount of it. But not breaking stones. I've got brains in my head, though I know you don't think so. I came to-day to know if you would give those brains a trial. I'm a free man now. Cora has flung me over, so there's no obligation anywhere. I'm free to stand up and show what I'm good for. I've sold my horses and given up hunting already. That's something."
"Something you couldn't help. How much did you get for that big bright bay?"
"Forty-five guineas."
"And gave?"
"Seventy. But, of course, I've not got enough capital all told to be much practical use in buying into anything. What I really want is five hundred pounds."
"A common want."
"And I thought perhaps that you—I thought of it as I came here to see you."
"And still you try to make out you're not a fool?"
"I can give interest and security."
"Yes—like your Uncle Nathan, perhaps. In a word, I'll not do anything. Not a farthing of money and not a hand of help. But——"