"Yes, sir."
"Yet thou namedst it not?"
O'Rane hesitated and then burst out with a touch of his old universal defiance.
"I wanted to make you take me on my merits, sir."
"Hard is the way of him who would presume to offer help to David O'Rane!" Burgess answered, with a shake of the head.
"But I'd won through so far, sir; I wanted to see how much longer——"
"I blame thee not, laddie. Well, thou hast endured to the end and hast brought new honour to my kingdom. Counsel I withhold from thee: truly the Lord will provide. Fare thee well, David O'Rane."
On our way back to Crowley Court I put Raney outside, in case he preferred the company of his own thoughts for the present. He sat for a few moments with his chin on his chest, but as the car left the town he engaged the chauffeur in earnest conversation, and as we slowed down in front of the house he jumped out and came to the door with the words, "Simpson damns electricity and steam. He swears by oil. Well, if cars are going to knock out horses and you need petrol to drive your cars, there's going to be a tremendous demand for oil in the near future. I want to get in before the rush, I'm going to study oil——"
"You're a soulless Wall Street punter," I said.