And then Colonel Pendleton laughed.
"I am hardly the one to say all this, or rather I am just the one because I am a—failure."
"Father."
The word came like a sob from Gray.
"Oh, yes, I am—but I have never lied except for others, and I have not been afraid."
Again his face went toward the window.
"Even now," he added in a solemn whisper that was all to himself, "I believe, and am not afraid."
Presently he lifted himself on one elbow and with Gray's assistance got to a sitting posture. Then he pulled a paper from beneath his pillow.
"I want to tell you something, Jason. That was all true, every word you said the first time Gray and I saw you at your grandfather's house, and I want you to know now that your land was bought over my protest and without my knowledge. My own interest in the general purchase was in the form of stock, and here it is."
Jason's heart began to beat violently.