“This isn’t the first,” Anne reminded him. “I have several days yet.”
“Not to sell the house, you haven’t. I’ll give you just twenty-four hours to decide what you want to do. I’ll wipe off the mortgage and give you five hundred dollars for the house and island. But the offer only holds until tomorrow noon.”
“It’s robbery!” Anne protested.
“Take it or leave it,” he retorted, and turning, walked away.
CHAPTER XI
The Secret Hiding Place
“My! My! Is Jake Curtis important?” Madge mocked. “Take it or leave it! I wish you had told him to jump in the lake!”
“I fear I’m at his mercy,” Anne returned in a disheartened tone. “What can I do in twenty-four hours? I can’t borrow enough money to pay off the mortgage. And if I sold the house and island at public auction it probably wouldn’t bring enough to get me out of debt.”
“Jake would see to that,” Madge said feelingly. “He has underhanded ways of managing things. But don’t take it so hard, Anne. We’ll find some way to best him.”
“The formula was my only chance of raising money and we couldn’t possibly unearth it in twenty-four hours.”
“That man in Washington may wire right back.”