"I know this," she answered; "that Littleson asked me to lunch to-day to
find out whether my father's illness was genuine or not, and he gave me
to understand that they suspected him of playing them false. I believe
that as usual my father has the best of it. Peter Littleson admitted to
me that just now, at any rate, he held them all in the hollow of
his hand."
Norris Vine looked out of the window for a moment. His face was haggard.
"I have begun," he said slowly, "to lose faith in myself, and when one
does that here the end is not far off. I believe that Littleson is
right, Stella. I believe that your father, if it pleased him, could take
them one by one and break them, as he is doing me."
"Supposing, on the other hand," she said, "something were to happen so
that they were in a position to break him?"
"Then," he answered coolly, "it would be the very best thing that could
happen for the country and for me. There's no morality about
speculation, of course, and the finance of this country is one of the
most ghastly things in the world. All the same, there are degrees of
rascality, and there is no one who has sinned against every law of
decency and respect for his fellows like Phineas Duge.
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