“‘I––I hadn’t seen it in that light, sir,’ 108 he said. ‘But what am I to do, sir? I am heavily indebted to my tailor.’
“‘What! Haven’t you paid for those lovely garments?’
“‘I had them charged, sir,’ Cub sadly answered. ‘My mother sent me a hundred dollars to pay for them, but I loaned it to Roger Daniels. I should be much obliged, sir, if you would collect it for me.’
“I went to Roger and made him pay the debt. He paid it in a curious way––by going to his tailor and buying a hundred dollars’ worth of clothes for Cub and having them charged. It was compounding a felony, but my client was satisfied and Roger was grateful. He began to have some regard for me. Not every lawyer had been able to make him pay. Within a day or so he came to consult me about a mortgage on his patrimony.
“Roger had married and settled down immediately after his remarkable cruise. He had kept his party in ignorance of his 109 financial troubles and returned with his reputation as an aristocrat firmly established. The gay young Bessie Runnymede had accepted him at once. He had become junior partner in a firm of brokers and had rented a handsome residence in Pointview.
“So they began their little play with ladies, lords, and gentlemen in the cast, and with a country-house, a tandem, a crested limousine, and a racing launch for scenery. But Roger had what is known as a bad season. Well, you know, the moving-picture shows had got such a hold on the public.
“At first we concluded that he must have made another lucky play in the market. Then, after six months or so, bills against Roger began to arrive for collection from sundry department stores in the city. He was a good fellow and had plausible excuses, and I declined to press payment and returned the bills.
“One day, some eight months after the 110 wedding, an urgent telegram from Roger brought me to New York. I found the young man in his office, with his wife at his side. They were both in tears. I sat down with them, and he told me this story:
“‘The fact is, I’m a thief,’ he began. ‘I have confessed the truth to my partners. Since my marriage I have taken about twenty thousand dollars––needed every cent of it to keep going. The fact is, I expected to make a killing in the market and return the money––had inside information––but everything went wrong. Yesterday I was cleaned out.
“‘I went home late in the evening. I hoped that my wife would be in bed, but she was waiting for me. She said that I looked sick, and wanted to know what was the matter. I told her that I had a headache, and got into bed as soon as possible; but I couldn’t sleep. Long after midnight my wife rose and turned on the light and came to my bed and said that she knew I 111 was troubled about something––that she had seen it in my face for weeks. She begged that I would let her help me bear it. Then I told her the truth, and discovered––for I didn’t know her before––one of the noblest women in the world. She hid her face in the pillow, and then I had a bad moment.