"
"Perhaps I am not, but I am beginning to see. It is a new
experience for me. If my father had wanted the money for the same
purpose for which I want this, he would not have had to drive a
mile from his house before he would have had it."
"Your father lived in a different atmosphere, my boy; in another
age, really. In his environment money meant the education of
children, the comfort of women, and the hospitalities that make up
social life."
"Well, is not that true now, among decent people?" protested Jack,
his mind going back to some homes he remembered.
"No--not generally--not here in New York. Money here means the
right to exist on the planet; we fight for it as we do for our
lives. Your own need of this ten thousand dollars proves it. The
men I tried to find this afternoon have more than they need or
ever will need; that's why I called on them. If I lost it, it
wouldn't matter to them, but I would never hear the last of it all
the same," and a shudder ran through him.
Peter did not tell Jack that had Portman been at home and, out of
friendship for him, had agreed to his request, he would have
required the old fellow's name on a demand note for the amount of
the loan; and that he would willingly have signed it, to relieve
the boy's mind and ward off the calamity that threatened those he
loved and those who loved him--not one cent of which, the Scribe
adds in all positiveness, would the boy have taken had he known
that the dear fellow had in any way pledged himself for its
return.
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