CHAPTER XXIV - "POKER" JOHN ACCEPTS
"Ah!"
There was a tone of drunken suspicion about the exclamation which was not lost on Lablache.
"If you were suddenly called upon to meet your liabilities to me, John," said the money-lender, smiling, "how would it fix you?"
"It would mean ruin," replied John, hoarsely.
Lablache cleared his throat and snorted. Then he smiled benignly upon his old companion.
"That's just what I thought. Well, you're not going to be ruined—by me. I'm going to burn the mortgages and settle with the Calford Trust and Loan Co. myself—"
The rancher feared to trust his ears.
"That is if you are willing to do something for me."