“But I hear hard things said of him,” I persisted. “Reports have lately come to me as to some rather close, not to say sharp, bargains of his. He is successful; perhaps he is changing.”
For the first time I saw Silverthorn angry.
“Never say a word of that sort to me again!” he cried, with a demeanor bordering on violence.
I was a little piqued, and inquired:
“Well, how do you get on toward being in a position to pay him?”
But I regretted my thrust. Silverthorn’s face fell, and he could make no reply.
“Is there no prospect of success with those machines you were talking of last year?” I asked more kindly.
“No,” said he, sadly. “I’m afraid not. I shall never succeed. It all depends on Vibbard, now. I cannot even marry, unless he gets enough to give me a start.”
I left him with a dreary misgiving in my heart. What an unhappy outcome of their compact was this!