'In these matters, unfortunately, where a relative or family friend has for years had charge of money belonging to others, little temptations are bound to come up. Now, your uncle may be the most scrupulously honest of men, but——'
'He has a bad eye,' Henry put in.
'I don't doubt it. Calverly, let me tell you—never forget this—a man who hesitates for one instant to account freely, fully for money is never to be trusted.'
'But what can I do?'
'Do? Everything! Just what I'm doing with Charlie Waterhouse, for one thing—insist on a full statement.'
'They framed a letter—or McGibbon framed it—demanding an accounting, 'in order that further legal measures may not become necessary.' McGibbon said he would send it early in the morning, registered, and with a special-delivery stamp. 'Later, they decided to add emphasis by means of a telegram demanding immediate consideration of the letter.
Late that night, when Humphrey came upstairs into a pitch-dark living-room and switched on the light, he discovered a pale youth sitting stiffly on a window-seat wide-awake, eyes staring nervously, hands clasped.
'Well, what on earth?' said he, in mild surprise.
'Oh, Hump, I've wondered what you'd think—leaving you in the lurch with all that work!
Humphrey threw out a lean hand.