There were you and I, and Higgins and Bardsley,
four men who have held our own, and more than held our own, in the
innermost circle of this thieves' kitchen. And yet, when Phineas Duge
sprung that thing upon us, and we saw the thunderbolt coming, we were
like frightened sheep, glad to do anything he suggested, glad to sign
our names even to that d----d paper. Do you realize, Littleson, that we
may have to leave the country?"
"If we do," he answered, "we are done for--I am at least. I am in
Canadian Pacifics too deep. If I cannot keep the ball rolling here, I
can never pull through."
"It all depends," Weiss said, "into whose hands that paper has gone. A
week's grace is all I want, time enough to fight this thing out
with Duge."
"Has he been near you?" Littleson asked. "Has he offered any
explanation?"
Weiss shrugged his shoulders.
"None," he answered. "That little fool of a Leslie, the outside broker,
must have given us away. I was afraid of him from the first. He was
always Duge's man."
A clerk knocked at the door. He entered, bearing a card.
"Mr. Norris Vine wishes to see you, sir!" he announced.
Weiss and Littleson exchanged swift glances.
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