And then, slip by slip and bet by bet, he told his story, withholding only the sex of that dear friend who had loaned him the five thousand dollars, and to whom he had bound himself by promises.
"Well," said Mr. Grey, when David had finished, "I don't know your holding-out powers, Larkin, but you do certainly speak the truth without mincing."
"That," said David, "is a promise I have made to myself in admiration of and emulation of my friend. But I have had my little lesson, and I shall keep the other promises until I have made good."
"And then?" Mr. Grey beamed.
"Then," said David, "I shall smoke and I shall make love."
"But no liquor."
David laughed.
"I have a secret clause in my pledge," said he; "it is not to touch liquor except on the personal invitation of my future father-in-law, whoever he may be." But he had Dolly Tennant's father in his mind, and the joke seemed good to him.
"Well," said Mr. Grey, "I don't know as I'd go into apple-growing. You haven't got enough capital."
"But," said David, "I intend to begin at the bottom and work up."