"Yes, I follow you," said Comethup slowly. "And so you want me to use her name, the name of a woman who's been the best friend ever a man had; you want me to look out so eagerly for dead men's shoes--or a dead woman's, it doesn't matter which--that I am to sell them before she's finished wearing them? No, you've made a mistake, Uncle Bob; I don't intend to do it. You and Brian have been living at my expense at the rate of over a thousand a year; to put it plainly, you've had every penny, or nearly every penny, that I've ever possessed since I was a boy. I don't mind that, but the thing has got to stop. Beyond what I have I won't go; you've been welcome to all that, and I don't mind. But I'll go no further." Mr. Robert Carlaw sighed and began to ponder the matter again; he was not quite certain of his cards, at least of those he could safely play; but he had a vague feeling that there was one trump card in his possession which might well be risked. The matter was desperate, and he resolved to play desperately. "Well, you know best," he said. "Frankly, I honour you--honour you for the noble position you take up at such a moment. When I consider your simplicity, your clear and beautiful nature, I feel like a modern Mephistopheles whispering temptation into your ear. But in this, as in all other matters, a man must look at a thing from his own standpoint, or from the standpoint of those who most nearly concern him. Doubtless you are right; let us say no more about it. The crash has come, and we must meet it. I have met worse blows than this, and Brian, being the son of his most unfortunate father, must learn to meet them too; doubtless it will be a salutary lesson to him. Men have strong hands and, I trust, stout hearts; if it rested with Brian and myself alone I would not mind; but there is some one else to consider, some one weak and helpless who knows nothing of any tragedy which may be impending over her." He sighed again and shook his head with an air of deep dejection. "You mean 'Linda?" said Comethup, without looking at him. "I refer to that sweet girl. I am a man of quick and strong imagination; a moment ago I seemed to have a sudden mental picture of that child when she first learned the position in which we stand, when she----" "But she mustn't learn it," cried Comethup hurriedly. Mr. Robert Carlaw shook his head again. "My dear young friend, a wife's place is by her husband; when the crash falls she will unhesitatingly--oh, I know the nobility of her character--she will, I say, unhesitatingly place her hand in that of her husband and will say, 'Together we have been prosperous, together we will bow our heads before the storm.' Poor child, poor child, that it should come to this!"