"
"How?" Shirley had queried at the time.
"Never mind, my dear," he had answered darkly. "You wouldn't
understand the procedure if I told you. I'll have to run all around
Robin Hood's barn and put up a deal of money, one way or another, but
in the end I'll get it all back with interest--and Cardigan's
Redwoods! The old man can't last forever, and what with his fool
methods of doing business, he's about broke, anyhow. I expect to do
business with his executor or his receiver within a year."
Shirley, as explained in a preceding chapter, had been present the
night John Cardigan, desperate and brought to bay at last, had
telephoned Pennington at the latter's home, accepting Pennington's
last offer for the Valley of the Giants. The cruel triumph in the
Colonel's handsome face as he curtly rebuffed old Cardigan had been
too apparent for the girl to mistake; recalling her conversation with
him anent the impending possibility of his doing business with John
Cardigan's receiver or executor, she realized now that a crisis had
come in the affairs of the Cardigans, and across her vision there
flashed again the vision of Bryce Cardigan's homecoming--of a tall
old man with his trembling arms clasped around his boy, with grizzled
cheek laid against his son's, as one who, seeking comfort through
bitter years, at length had found it.
Pages:
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230