And the man laughed in a low, self-satisfied, sinister chuckle.
"He's able enough," remarked Grind.
"So you have told me. And if he is able, he must pay. I helped him to a fortune, and it is but fair that he should help me a little, now that a fortune is in my grasp. I only want the money as a loan."
"Wouldn't five thousand answer your purpose?" asked the lawyer. "That is a large sum. It is not a very easy matter for even a rich man, who is engaged heavily in business, to lay down ten thousand dollars at call."
"Five thousand will not do, Mr. Grind."
"Jasper has lost, to my certain knowledge, twenty thousand dollars in three months."
"So much?"
"At least that sum. Money came in so fast, that he grew a little wild in his speculations, and played his cards with the dashing boldness of a gambler while in a run of luck. I cautioned him, but to no good purpose. One of his latest movements had been to put fifty or sixty thousand dollars in a cotton factory?"
"Poh! What folly."
"A most egregious blunder. But he fancies himself an exceedingly shrewd man."