"Good boy!" I cried, and I wrote out letter number two, asking the lawyers, if possible, to send their representative along with the Commercial Bank men, so that we could get the whole business fixed up and off-hand at the one time. Next morning when I awoke, although it was still early, I found Jake already dressed. Not only that, but he was at the whisky-keg in the corner, filling up a cup. "My God! Jake,--you don't mean to tell me you are back to that stuff?" "Yep! I ain't preachin' tee-total any more after this." My heart sank within me. This,--after all his fighting. I remonstrated with him all I could. "But, man alive!" I said, "this is the early morning. Are you crazy? You never drank in the mornings before. Wait till night time. Give yourself a chance to get pulled together. You'll be feeling different after a while. "Think! What will Rita say? What will Miss Grant think? How will you be able to face Mr. Auld? They all know of the good fight you have been putting up. "Jake,--Jake,--for shame! Throw the stuff out at the door." Jake only shook his head more firmly. "It ain't no good preachin', George, or gettin' sore,--for I've quit tryin'. "What'n the hell's the good, anyway. The more you fight, the rawer a deal you get in the finish. Forget it! I'm drinkin' now whenever I'm good and ready; any old time at all and as much as I want,--and more." I could do no more for him. It was Jake for it. I stopped the southbound _Cloochman_ that afternoon and put Jake's letters aboard. Two days later, two clerks from the Commercial Bank and a young lawyer from Dow, Cross & Sneddon's came into Golden Crescent in a launch. I took them over to Jake Meaghan's. I introduced them, then busied myself outside while the necessary formalities were gone through, for I did not wish to be in any way connected with Jake's settlements. At last, however, the old fellow came to the door. "George,--I guess you'd better take care o' them for me. That's my bank receipt. That's my death warrant," he grinned, "I mean my will. You're better'n me at lookin' after papers." We carried the brass-bound trunk to the launch and waved it a fond farewell, without tears or regrets. For two weeks, morning, noon and night, Jake indulged in a horror of a drinking bout. The very thought of that orgy still sets my blood running cold. We pleaded, we threatened; but of no avail. The minister even closeted himself with Jake for a whole afternoon without making the slightest impression on him. It was always the same old remark: "I've boozed for ten years and it ain't hurt me, so I guess I can booze some more." And the strange feature of it was that the more he drank the more sober he seemed to become. He did his work as well as ever. His eyes retained their same innocent, baby-blue expression and his brain was as clear as a summer sky.