Pen refused to be diverted. "Where did you get it?"
"I sold some lots."
"To Mr. Riever?"
"None other."
"Oh, how could you?" she cried involuntarily.
"And why not, I should like to know?" he demanded, up in arms immediately. Clearly his conscience was bad, though he appeared to have reason on his side.
Pen was helplessly silent.
"I consider it an excellent stroke of business every way," Pendleton went on, puffing a little. "It secures his interest in the railway."
"He has no interest in the railway."
"Then why should he buy the lots?"