Jadwin turned to the old man, reaching out the second check to him.
"Here you are, Hargus. Put it away carefully. You see what it is, don't you? Buy your Lizzie a little gold watch with a hundred of it, and tell her it's from Curtis Jadwin, with his compliments.... What, going, Scannel? Well, good-by to you, sir, and hey!" he called after him, "please don't slam the door as you go out."
But he dodged with a defensive gesture as the pane of glass almost leaped from its casing, as Scannel stormed across the threshold.
Jadwin turned to Hargus, with a solemn wink.
"He did slam it after all, didn't he?"
The old fellow, however, sat fingering the two checks in silence. Then he looked up at Jadwin, scared and trembling.
"I—I don't know," he murmured, feebly. "I am a very old man. This—this is a great deal of money, sir. I—I can't say; I—I don't know. I'm an old man ... an old man."
"You won't lose 'em, now?"
"No, no. I'll deposit them at once in the Illinois Trust. I shall ask—I should like."
"I'll send a clerk with you."