"And yet you don't trust him. If you did, you'd tell him about those debts instead of me."
"Weel," chuckled Mackellar, "there's maybe something in that."
Andrew knitted his brows.
"I feel that there's something going on, so to speak, behind the scenes, but I can't tell what it is. Do you know that Dick's heart is weak, and dissipation and excitement are bad for him?"
"I heard something about it." Mackellar gave Andrew a steady, meaning look. "Your cousin will not be in danger until he's twenty-one."
"What danger do you mean?" Andrew asked uneasily.
"I cannot tell—ye have heard that loose living is bad for him. He'll be free from restraint when he comes of age."
Andrew suspected that this was not all that Mackellar meant.
"Suppose his creditors insisted on his insuring his life?" he asked.
"There's a difficulty—insurance companies are not as a rule anxious to take a man with a weak heart. For a' that—" Mackellar broke off and sipped his wine in silence before he resumed: "I'll try to follow up the matter of the notes and ye'll keep an eye on Dick. If ye remark anything suspicious, ye will let me know. Now, I think there's no more to be said."