Alpha Book

It meant more than temporary inconvenience to himself; it meant that he
must go into the market and sell securities which were partly his
capital, and from which came the modest income that enabled him to live
as he did.
There was no other way, unless he went to Austin. But he dared not do
that--dared not think what Austin's action in the matter might be. And
he knew that if Gerald were ever driven into hopeless exile with
Austin's knowledge of his disgrace rankling, the boy's utter ruin must
result inevitably.
Yet--yet--how could he afford to do this--unoccupied, earning nothing,
bereft of his profession, with only the chance in view that his Chaosite
might turn out stable enough to be marketable? How could he dare so
strip himself? Yet, there was no other way; it had to be done; and done
at once--the very first thing in the morning before it became too late.
And at first, in the bitter resentment of the necessity, his impulse was
to turn on Gerald and bind him to good conduct by every pledge the boy
could give.


Pages:
383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407