She
told me that they had offered her one hundred thousand dollars for it,
but she never had any idea of letting them have it."
If Phineas Duge was surprised, he showed no signs of it, only he looked
steadily into his niece's face for a moment or two before he replied.
"Stella," he said coldly, "has taken her goods to a poor market. Norris
Vine is on the brink of ruin. If I turn the screw to-morrow, he must
come down."
He sipped his wine for a moment thoughtfully. Then a grim, hard smile
parted his lips.
"No wonder," he said, "that my friends are still in something of a
panic."
Virginia rose in her place. It seemed as though her appearance was
woebegone enough to soften the heart of any man, but Phineas Duge looked
into her face unmoved.
"Uncle," she said, "I am no longer any use to you. I think that I had
better go home."
He took out his pocket-book, looked through its contents, and passed it
across the table to her.
"As you will," he answered. "I have a great weakness which I am always
ready to admit. I cannot bear the presence about me of people who have
failed. You have become one of them, and I do not wish you to remain
here.
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