than
he calculated and he met stubborn resistance when he talked about putting
up the rents. The money he had got by the last mortgage had gone; he
could not borrow more, and his creditors demanded payment of his debts.
He put off the reckoning, however, until, one day when he drove to the
market town to consult his agent, he got a rude jar.

In the first place, Hayes kept him waiting in a cold room, and he stood
for a time by the window, looking out drearily at the old-fashioned
square. The day was bleak and wet, and the high moors that shut in the
little town loomed, blurred and forbidding, through drifting mist. The
square was empty, the fronts of the tall old houses were dark with rain,
and the drops from a clump of bare trees fell in a steady shower on the
grass behind the iron rails. The gloom reacted upon Osborn's disturbed
mood, and he frowned when Hayes came in.

"I sent you word that I would call," he said.

"You did," Hayes agreed. "I was occupied when my clerk told me you
were here."

Osborn looked at him with some surprise. Hayes was very cool and not
apologetic. "Well," he said, "you know what I want to talk about. I
suppose you have seen Forsyth and Langdon about the renewal of their
leases?"

"Yes. Both state they'll go sooner than pay you extra rent."

"Then they must go," Osborn rejoined, trying to hide his disappointment,
since he had spent some money on the steadings in the hope of raising the
rent. Now he came to think of it, Hayes had held this out as an
inducement when he urged the expenditure. "It looks as if your judgment
wasn't very good, but by comparison with other things the matter's not
important," he resumed. "You know the sum I'll need between now and the
end of the term?"

"I do know. In fact, I imagine you will need more than you suspect,"
Hayes rejoined. "You'll find it impossible to borrow the money on
satisfactory terms."

Osborn looked hard at him. The fellow's manner was rather abrupt than
sympathetic; but Hayes went on: "Before we advertise for new tenants,
there is something I want to suggest. Although the farms are mortgaged, I
might be able to find a buyer--at a price."

"No," said Osborn firmly. "The buyer would have to undertake the debt and
the sum he would be willing to pay would not last me long. When it was
spent I'd have practically nothing left."

"The situation's awkward; but there it is! Of course, if you were able to
carry on until your rents come in--"