"Well, from now on, you're going to play the man. You're going to take care of yourself. You're going to _have_ to do things." "What do you mean?" All Roger's flippancy had vanished, and in its place was an almost comic anxiety. "Just what I said, Roger lad. I shall support you no longer." "You mean ... you're going to stop my allowance?" He was aghast at the possibility, and he made no effort to conceal his feelings. "Surely you can't be thinking of anything so--so--outrageous?" he demanded. "But I am!" She tossed her head with a suggestion of defiance, and smiled. "You've done as you pleased for all your twenty-four years. Well, you can go on doing as you please--only you'll do it on your own money." "But this money--my allowance--it isn't yours, you know," he expostulated, almost tearfully. "It's merely an idiotic will that gives you the disposal of it. What right have you got to get on your high horse and tell me what I must and mustn't do? Answer me that." "No _right_, Roger," she said sadly. "Half of what we have is yours of course. But it's not yours till you're thirty--you know that. I couldn't give it to you now even if I wanted to. I'm not even obliged to give you an allowance. The two thousand, of course, you'll continue to get. I can't control that. But beyond...." "Two thousand! What good will that do me? Do you think I can live on that?" "Some people do," she murmured faintly. Judith was not without a certain quiet irony when she chose to employ it. "Don't be silly, Judith. You know mighty well I can't get along on that. Why, good heavens, I can't possibly do it!" His voice rose shrilly as the enormity of the thought struck him with all its force. But Judith refused to be troubled. "Perhaps you'll know more about it after you've tried," she said gently. Roger jumped to his feet and paced rapidly to and fro for a moment. Then he faced his sister, and his eyes blazed like those of an angry cat. "Do you really mean that you're going to play this rotten trick on me?" he demanded hotly. "Are you going to take advantage of a perfectly insane will and cheat me out of what's honestly mine? Or are you kidding me? If you are, I've had about enough of it."