'Legally, you are not; morally, I think you are.'
'Why?'
'If he were your son——'
'But he is not my son; he is my nephew.'
'If your son had committed a theft, would you not do everything in your power to counteract the evil he had done?'
'I might, and I might not. Some fathers pay their sons' debts, others do not. I cannot say what action I should take in a purely imaginary case.'
'Very well; all I have to say is, our option runs out in two or three days. Twenty thousand pounds will secure the mine for us. I want that twenty thousand pounds before the option ceases.'
'And do you expect me to pay you twenty thousand pounds for this?'
'Yes, I do.'
Old Mr. Longworth leaned back in his office chair, and looked at the young man in amazement.