An instant change was visible in Martin, who, rising, commenced buttoning up his coat. There was about him every mark of a man deeply offended.
"Good evening, sir!" said he, with a low, formal bow, yet with his eyes fixed searchingly in those of the merchant.
"Martin,"—Jasper did not smile, nor was there in his voice the slightest affectation of good feeling—yet his manner and tone were both decisive,—"Martin, sit down again. Talk in reason, and I will hear."
The man resumed his seat, and, with his eyes still in those of Jasper, said—
"I have talked in reason. You are worth, so report says, not less than three hundred thousand dollars. How the first hundred thousand came, is known, certainly, only to one man beside you and me. In procuring that large sum I was a very prominent agent."
"You have already been paid for your services a dozen times over."
"There may be a difference of opinion about this," replied the man boldly—"and there is a difference of opinion."
"I have already advanced you over five thousand dollars."
"What of that! Five thousand to three hundred thousand that you have made by the operation."
"You are in error, Martin," said Jasper, with a blended look of perplexity and distress. "I am not worth the sum you have mentioned—nothing like it. My losses during the past six months have been very heavy."