er's passionate belief in himself and the value
of his work. If anything, Hunter had slurred the immense influence
Eustis exerted, and the calamitous effect his failure would have upon
the plain people who looked up to him with such unlimited trust. They
would not only lose their money; they would lose something no money
could pay for--their faith.

"Oh, but that just simply couldn't happen!" said Mary Virginia, and
her chin went up.

"It could very easily happen. It may happen shortly," he contradicted
politely. "Heavens, girl, don't you know that the Eustis house is
mortgaged to the roof, that Rosemount Plantation is mortgaged from the
front fences to the back ditches? No, I suppose he wouldn't want his
women-folks to know. He thinks he can tide it over. They always
believe they can tide it over, those one-idea chaps. And he could,
too, for he's a born winner, is Eustis. Give him time and a good
season and he'd be up again, stronger than ever." While he spoke he
was taking from a drawer a handful of papers, which he spread out on
the desk. She could see upon all of them a bold clear "_James
Eustis_."

"One place mortgaged to prop up another, and that in turn mortgaged to
save a third. Like links in a chain. Any chain is only as strong as
its weakest link, remember. And we've got the links. Look at these,
please." He laid before her two or three slips of paper. Mary
Virginia's eyes asked for enlightenment.

"These," explained Hunter, "are promissory notes. You will see that
some of them are about due--and the amounts are considerable."

"Oh! And _he_ had to do that?"

"Of course. What else could he do? We kept a very close watch since we
got the first inkling that things were not breaking right for him. Mr.
Inglesby's own interests are pretty extensive--and we set them to
work. It wasn't hard to manage, after things began to shape: a word
here, a hint there, an order somewhere else; and once or twice, of
course, a bit of pressure was brought to bear, in obdurate instances.
But the man with money is always the man with the whip hand. Eustis
got the help he had to have--and presently we got these. All perfectly
legitimate, all in the course of the day's work.

"Now, promissory notes are dangerous instruments should a holder
desire to use them dangerously. Mr. Inglesby could give Eustis an
extension of time, or he could demand full payment and immediately
foreclose. You see, it's entirely optional with Mr. Ingles