Killen nodded. “It would put me on my feet again and give the kiddie her chance.” The answer had slipped out naturally, but now the fear chilled him that he had been lured into making a confession. “I didn't say I was going to take it,” he added hastily.
“You're quite safe with me, Killen,” Jeff told him. He was wondering whether he could not get Captain Chunn to take over the mortgage.
“I'm not so much struck on Hardy myself,” grumbled the legislator. “He's a rich man, just as Frome is. Six of one and half a dozen of the other, looks like to me.”
“No, Killen. Frome represents the Transcontinental and the utility corporations. Hardy stands for the people. And you're pledged to support Hardy. You mustn't forget that.”
“I ain't likely to forget that mortgage either,” Killen came back drearily.
“I think I can arrange about having the mortgage renewed. Will that do?”
“Yes. We're going to have a good year in the lumber business. Probably in twelve months I could clear it off.”
“Good! And about the little girl—she'll have her chance. I promise you that.”
The mill man wrung his hand, tears in his eyes. “You're a white man, Jeff, and a dashed good friend. I tell you I'd hate like poison to go back on Hardy. A fellow can't afford to do a thing like that. But what else could I do? A fellow's got to stand by the children he brings into the world, ain't he?”
Farnum evaded with a smile this discussion of moral issues. “Well, you can stand by them and us, too, if I can fix up this mortgage proposition for you.”