would be to charge the Moat Farm specifically with the amount. Things
are bad enough, no doubt, but I can hardly suppose it possible under
any conceivable circumstances that the farm would not be good for five
thousand pounds. However, they might perhaps prefer to have a general
clause as well, and if it is so, although I consider it quite
unnecessary, I shall raise no objection to that course."

Then at last Mr. Quest broke his somewhat ominous silence.

"I am very sorry to say, Mr. de la Molle," he said gently, "that I can
hold out no prospect of Cossey and Son being induced, under any
circumstances, to advance another pound upon the security of the
Honham Castle estates. Their opinion of the value of landed property
as security has received so severe a shock, that they are not at all
comfortable as to the safety of the amount already invested."

Mr. de la Molle started when he heard this most unexpected bit of
news, for which he was totally unprepared. He had always found it
possible to borrow money, and it had never occurred to him that a time
might perhaps come in this country, when the land, which he held in
almost superstitious veneration, would be so valueless a form of
property that lenders would refuse it as security.

"Why," he said, recovering himself, "the total encumbrances on the
property do not amount to more than twenty-five thousand pounds, and
when I succeeded to my father, forty years ago, it was valued at
fifty, and the Castle and premises have been thoroughly repaired since
then at a cost of five thousand, and most of the farm buildings too."

"Very possibly, de la Molle, but to be honest, I very much doubt if
Honham Castle and the lands round it would now fetch twenty-five
thousand pounds on a forced sale. Competition and Radical agitation
have brought estates down more than people realise, and land in
Australia and New Zealand is now worth almost as much per acre as
cultivated lands in England. Perhaps as a residential property and on
account of its historical interest it might fetch more, but I doubt
it. In short, Mr. de la Molle, so anxious are Cossey and Son in the
matter, that I regret to have to tell you that so far from being
willing to make a further advance, the firm have formally instructed
me to serve the usual six months' notice on you, calling in the money
already advanced on mortgage, together with the interest, which I must
remind you is nearly a year overdue, and this step I