Big John stared at Ollie, and once more shook his head.
"What fools you kids can make of yourselves!" he grunted. "You're the one that started young Lorry, eh?"
"He was a sissy," asserted Ollie, "and I was making a man of him. George's folks never treated him right. Old Lorry has got as much money as my governor, but he's a tightwad, all right, and put the screws on George's allowance in a way that was scandalous. George bought a five-thousand-dollar motor launch, and had it sent on here from Bay City, C. O. D., and his skinflint father wouldn't foot the bill and the launch had to go back." Ollie fired up to a white heat. "What sort of a way was that for a man to treat his only son?" he demanded.
"Awful!" commented Big John sarcastically.
"George told me how he was treated," went on Ollie, failing to observe the sarcasm in Big John's voice, "and I advised him to break away and show the old folks that he wasn't going to let 'em tramp on him. He joined our club and got to be one of the best card players we have."
"Beautiful!" expanded Big John. "I suppose his folks were all cut up about that, eh?"
"I guess they were, only old Lorry took the wrong way of showing it. What do you think he did?" flared Ollie.
"I'm by. What did he do?"
"Why, he made arrangements to send George to one of these military academies, that's nothing more or less than a reform school. George came to me and told me about it, and asked what he ought to do."
"And what did you tell him?"