ONE WRONG STEP 267

LILE DAVIE 309




Crawford's Sair Strait.




CRAWFORD'S SAIR STRAIT.


CHAPTER I.


Alexander Crawford sat reading a book which he studied frequently with
a profound interest. Not the Bible: that volume had indeed its place
of honor in the room, but the book Crawford read was a smaller one; it
was stoutly bound and secured by a brass lock, and it was all in
manuscript. It was his private ledger, and it contained his bank
account. Its contents seemed to give him much solid satisfaction; and
when at last he locked the volume and replaced it in his secretary, it
was with that careful respect which he considered due to the
representative of so many thousand pounds.

He was in a placid mood, and strangely inclined to retrospection.