“Yes,” agreed Carl, “you are right there. And thinking of it, it is not alone health that suffers from such an evil. The nation will suffer in the end. Look at China. Prior to the use of drugs, China was a great nation. Some of the most useful of the inventions of the ages have come from China. What is it as a nation? The use of drugs made it stagnant. Its culture died out and it ceased to be a factor in the progress of the world. I wonder if that was England’s object when she forced drugs upon China. I understand, too, that in India, today, more drugs are consumed than prior to England’s taking hold there.”
“That may be so. You know a nation or a people can be better exploited when in such a condition.”
“Well, let England do what it wants. The duty of each and every American, however, is to look out for the welfare of his country. He must remember that America comes first and should do everything possible to keep the American people from being exploited either from within or without.”
“Quite right. But what do we want to do? It is against the law to sell liquor, but not to drink it. Come into the locker room, I have a little left.”
“Yes, it is a great life if you don’t weaken.”
CHAPTER XIII
THE DEADLY RIVAL
WHEN Carl reached his office, to take up once more his engineering work he found Grace already awaiting him, ready to take up her secretarial duties.
When Grace had first expressed the desire to return to New York, she confessed to a lack of funds. Carl, grateful for the tender care she had taken of him while he was ill at the hospital, offered to pay her passage to New York. This she consented to, with the stipulation that she be given work at his office where a weekly deduction could be made from her salary until the money he had advanced was repaid. It was with this understanding, then, that she accompanied Carl to New York.
Carl instructed her as to her duties, but did not notice that her eyes seemed to flash with an eager light and an avid gleam, such as the mere technique of the work could never have provoked. She seemed to bask in the favor of his presence and look; to wither and wilt when he withdrew from her gaze, as a flower might do, if withdrawn from the light and the glow of the life-giving sun.
While his business mail had been attended to during his absence, quite a collection of personal mail awaited him. He was too busy for the moment to pay much attention to it and gave the envelopes but a passing glance, as if looking for something of especial interest or note. Not finding what he desired, the entire lot was set aside for more leisurely perusal.