“Paid you? Paid you this morning, did he? I wonder where he got the money.”
“I am sure I do not know,” said the lawyer, “and really I don’t think it makes much difference as long as you get the amount of your note.”
The two men sat down at the desk together, and the lawyer, after some preliminary remarks, handed over the money to the banker. The minute it was laid before him he jumped with a start.
“Why, this is all new money,” he exclaimed. “That’s just the kind of money that was taken from me last night. I don’t believe Dave Harkins came by that money honestly. It makes him look like a thief. It was probably done by that smart boy of his.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” cried the lawyer, trying to pacify the banker.
“But I will say it. Both father and son have a grudge against me, and I don’t believe they would hesitate at anything to get even.”
“But my dear sir,” remarked the lawyer in a soothing tone, “you have made a very rash assertion, and you have absolutely nothing to base it upon.”
John Black was silent for a moment, and then suddenly turning around, he said in a harsh tone:
“Did you get that money direct from David Harkins?”
“I did,” was the response.