lpiece and began to drum a difficult tattoo
upon the marble.

"I don't want you to be let in by Murchison," he said suddenly. "You will
find him damnably plausible. If he thinks you really want the place he
will squeeze you like a sponge."

"Thanks for the warning!" There was a note of amusement in Mordaunt's
voice. He finished his coffee and rose. "You have done your best to
handicap your man of business, but I think he will get his price in spite
of it. You see, I really do want the place."

"Without seeing it!"

"Yes."

Rupert whizzed round on his heels, and faced him. "Sounds
rather--eccentric," he suggested.

Mordaunt smiled in his quiet, detached way. "I can afford to be
eccentric," he said. "And now look here, Wyndham. You said something just
now about having to wait a year to fix things up. I don't see the
necessity for that, situated as we are. Since you are willing that I
should buy Kellerton Old Park, and since we are agreed upon the price, I
see no reason to delay payment. I will write you a cheque for your share
to-night."

"What?" said Rupert.

He stood up very straight, staring at the man before him as if he were an
entirely novel specimen of the human race.

"Is it a joke?" he asked at length.

Mordaunt flicked the ash from his cigarette without looking at him.
Perhaps he felt that he had studied him long enough.

"No," he said. "I don't see any point in jokes of that sort. Of course, I
know it's not business, but the arrangement is entirely between
ourselves. I don't see why even Murchison should be let into it. We can
settle it later without taking him into our confidence."

"It's a loan, then?" said Rupert quickly.

"If you like to call it so."

"May as well call it by its name," the boy returned bluntly. "You're
deuced generous, Mr. Mordaunt."

"I know what it is to be hard up," Mordaunt answered. "And since we are
to be brothers we may as well behave as such, eh--Rupert?"

Rupert's hand came out and gripped his impulsively. For a second he
seemed to be at a loss for words, then burst into headlong speech.

"Look here! I think I ought to tell you, before you take us in hand to
that extent, that we're a family of rotters. We're not one of us sound.
Oh, I'm not talking about Chris. She's a girl. But the rest of us are
below par, slackers. Our father was the same. There's bad blood
somewhere. You are bound to find it out sooner or later, so you may as
well know it now."

Mordaun