Jack thought that there was a sign of annoyance on Gray’s face at this announcement.
“You borrowed a thousand dollars of my father once, I believe.”
“Yes, that is true. Your father was a good friend of mine.”
“He released a mortgage so that you could sell a piece of property when you were in trouble.”
“Yes, your father was a good friend to me. I acknowledge that. I wish I had money enough to pay that debt. It shall be the very first debt paid when I get on my feet again, and I expect to get on my feet, as sure as I live.”
“But, you see, Mr. Gray, while my mother is pinched for money, you have plenty.”
“It’s all Mrs. Gray’s money. She has plenty. I haven’t anything.”
“But I want to go to school to Port William. My mother is too poor to help me. If you could let me have twenty-five dollars——”
“But, you see, I can’t. I haven’t got twenty-five dollars to my name, that I can control. But by next New Year’s I mean to pay your mother the whole thousand that I owe her.”
This speech impressed Jack a little, but remembering how often Gray had broken such promises, he said: