Hampton
hen-coops are not fragrant propositions to me. But there's always one
more way of making a living after you counted 'em all up on your
fingers. If you've any capital to offer Neergard, he won't shriek for
help."

"But isn't suburban property--"

"On the jump? Yes--both ways. Oh, I suppose that Neergard is all
right--if he wasn't I wouldn't have permitted Gerald to go into it.
Neergard sticks to his commissions and doesn't back his fancy in
certified checks. I don't know exactly how he operates; I only know that
we find nothing in that sort of thing for our own account. But Fane,
Harmon & Co. do. That's their affair, too; it's all a matter of taste, I
tell you."

Selwyn reflected: "I believe I'd go and see Neergard if I were perfectly
sure of my personal sentiments toward him. . . . He's been civil enough
to me, of course, but I have always had a curious feeling about
Neergard--that he's for ever on the edge of doing something--doubtful--"

"His business reputation is all right. He shaves the dead line like a
safety razor, but he's never yet cut through it. On principle, however,
look out for an apple-faced Dutchman with a thin nose and no lips.
Neither Jew, Yankee, nor American stands any chance in a deal with that
type of financier. Personally my feeling is this: if I've got to play
games with Julius Neergard, I'd prefer to be his partner. And so I told
Gerald. By the way--"

Austin checked himself, looked down at his cigar, turned it over and
over several times, then continued quietly:

--"By the way, I suppose Gerald is like other young men of his age and
times--immersed in his own affairs--thoughtless perhaps, perhaps a
trifle selfish in the cross-country gallop after pleasure. . . . I was
rather severe with him about his neglect of his sister. He ought to have
come here to pay his respects to you, too--"

"Oh, don't put such notions into his head--"

"Yes, I will!" insisted Austin; "however indifferent and thoughtless and
selfish he is to other people, he's got to be considerate toward his own
family. And I told him so. Have you seen him lately?"

"N-o," admitted Selwyn.

"Not since that first time when he came to do the civil by you?"

"No; but don't--"

"Yes, I will," repeated his brother-in-law; "and I'm going to have a
thorough explanation with him and learn what he's up to. He's got to be
decent to his sister; he ought to report to me occasionally; that's all
there is to it. He has ent