“He’s one of the jewels produced by our college, isn’t he?”
“He was the bright particular star of my class. He was well fitted by nature to be a clerk in a rural general store, or more likely, a barker for a circus side-show or the advance agent for a hair tonic. His education ruined him. He has the smooth facility of the superficial mind,—even showed some literary gift, and wrote the best essays in the class.”
“I know the type. A short horse, soon curried.”
“There’s the option on that piece of ground out on the creek. It might possibly be binding on Miss Dameron after the trusteeship has been closed. Balcomb’s pretty smooth, and if the old man is in straits, you can’t tell what he’ll do.”
“Let him blow it all in, Morris. I shall be disappointed if there’s a cent left. He can have the money. I want the girl!”
Rodney Merriam
“Balcomb is undoubtedly swindling his associates in the land company; they are quite likely to squeal. Balcomb wouldn’t hesitate about throwing the blame for any irregularity on Dameron.”
“Let him do it. What do we care for Dameron!”
“But I thought you wanted to avoid a scandal, for Miss Dameron’s sake,—for all your sakes.”