I think my uncle was rather sorry he had crowded me so hard. He had failed to accomplish his purpose of driving me out of my house, and he knew that I had some influence with my aunt. He was disposed to back out, but I was not willing that he should do so. I did not like the idea of having him around me in the capacity of a guardian, prying into my affairs, and listening to every breath of scandal that related to me.
The sharp words I had spoken produced some effect upon him. But it occurred to me that his malice would be dangerous, and I did not deem it prudent to provoke him any farther. He was intimate with Mr. Bristlebach, and his influence might imperil my situation. It would be utter ruin for me to be discharged before I had replaced the sums I had “borrowed.” I moderated my wrath, therefore, and refrained from enforcing my threat. My uncle left me, and I was willing to wait until he made the next move.
I remained at the bank until half-past three o’clock, at which time I had agreed to meet Cormorin, at Young’s. He was nearly half an hour late, but he came, and I saw by his countenance that every thing had gone well with him. I should say, in the light of subsequent experience, that every thing had gone ill with him, for the successful concealment of guilt, whatever consequences might follow its exposure, is the greatest misfortune that can befall a man, inasmuch as it leads him farther and deeper into crime.
“Five thousand; there are the identical bills you lent me,” said Cormorin, as he laid the money upon the table before me. “I’m all right now, and I hope I shall not have occasion to repeat this folly.”
“You will make enough by your operation in Ballyhacks to afford you a sufficient capital for future operations.”
“That’s so. I shall be worth ten or fifteen thousand dollars next week, as sure as I live. I am going to pay what I owe the bank, and then keep square with the world. You have done me a good turn to-day, Glasswood, and I am not one of the kind that forget such things.”
“Here are your certificates. I am glad to have been able to serve you,” I replied, as I handed him the papers. “You said something about another company in which a fellow might make a good thing.”
“I did—the Bustumup. Its stock’s going up just as that of the Ballyhack did.”
“What can I have it for?”