Luke did not pause to waste reproaches over either his own stupid blindness or Forbes's culpable rashness. He pressed forward:
"And now they're going to call the loan?"
Forbes bowed his head.
"And we can't meet it?"
"If—if we tried, we could do it only by wrecking the Business."
"But we can go somewhere else. The East County isn't the only bank in New York."
"That is what I thought. It's what I said."
Forbes was swallowing a sob. "I said it to Osserman—that's the president—I said it to him himself."
"Well?" persisted Luke.
"Well"—Forbes's eyes met Huber's—"it wasn't any use."