"Why—why, I don't know. I—— Of course it seems almost as if he ought to do something to help me, but if he can't he can't, I suppose."
"I suppose not. Look here, he won't tell anybody about your scrape, will he?"
The junior partner in the firm of Phillips and Kent was indignant.
"Of course not," he declared. "He told me he should not breathe a word. And he is really very much disturbed about it all. He told me himself that he felt almost guilty. Mr. Phillips is a gentleman."
"Is that so? Must be nice to be that way. But tell me a little more about those bonds, George. There were two of 'em, you say, a thousand dollars each."
"Yes."
"And you don't know what sort of bonds they were?"
His visitor's pride was touched. "Why, of course I know," he declared. "What sort of a business man would I be if I didn't know that, for heaven's sake?"
Sears did not answer the question. For a moment it seemed that he was going to, but if so, he changed his mind. However, there was an odd look in his eye when he spoke.
"Beg your pardon, George," he said. "I must have misunderstood you. What bonds were they?"