"Poor child, let her sleep. Would that she could enjoy an unbroken slumber until the return of her husband."
At nine o'clock he went to the bank and found Sargent alone.
"Have you mailed the forged letter to Alden?" he asked.
"Yes, sir; it left this morning."
"I am sorry, for I am convinced I have done a great wrong. I have been a fool—yes, worse than that, a villain—but I will recall him at once."
Sargent, conscious that his companion's mind had undergone a radical change, did not at first reply, but no other remark being made by the president, he finally said:
"Will it not be dangerous for him to return here? he might make it warm for us."
"I care not; although there would be no danger. There are reasons why I desire his immediate return. To-day is Friday—I will write to him at once, and he can be here by the middle of next week."
As he entered his private office and closed the door behind him, Sargent laughingly said to himself:
"Just as I expected—but we will nip this little game; for he has men, not a girl, to deal with now. We hold the trump cards and he will find himself euchred."