"I do not think so," answered Mrs. Talbot, and to avoid a scene she quitted the room.
James Talbot was growing desperate, since the little money he had had of his own was nearly all spent. By hook or by crook he felt that he must get something out of his wife.
A few days later he concocted a scheme to further his own interests. Coming home from the post-office, he rushed into his wife's presence with a face full of smiles.
"Sarah, I have struck a bonanza!" he cried, waving a folded legal-looking document over his head.
"A bonanza?" she queried, looking up from her sewing in wonder.
"Yes, a bonanza. I have the chance to make half a million dollars."
"In what way?"
"By investing in a dock property in Chicago, on the river. My friend, Millet, put me on to the deal. The property is to be sold at private sale, and Millet and I are going to buy it in--that is, if we can raise the necessary cash."
"Is it so valuable?"
"We can get the property for twenty-five thousand dollars. It is right next to the docks of the Dearborn Iron Manufacturing Company. They wanted this land, but the owner quarreled with them and wouldn't let them have it. Now we can gather it in for about half its value, and it won't be a year before the iron people will offer us a fat sum for it."