of bitter personal misery to trouble about money.

"Failing to reach you we waited until we should hear from you--or from
your estate." Mr. Lewis cleared his throat as if it embarrassed him to
mention that contingency. "In war--there was that possibility, you
understand. We did not feel justified; so much time had elapsed. There
was risk to us in acting without verifying our instructions."

"So this property is still to be marketed. The carrying charges, as I
remember, were small. I presume you carried them."

"Oh, assuredly," Mr. Lewis asserted. "We protected your interests to
the very best of our ability."

"Well, find me a buyer for that limit as soon as you can," Hollister
said abruptly. "I want to turn it into cash."

"We shall set about this at once," Mr. Lewis said. "It may take a
little time--conditions, as a result of the armistice, are again
somewhat unsettled in the logging industry. Airplane spruce production
is dead--dead as a salt mackerel--and fir and cedar slumped with it.
However we shall do our best. Have you a price in mind, Mr.
Hollister, for a quick sale?"

"I paid ten thousand for it. On the strength of your advice as a
specialist in timber investments," he added with a touch of malice. He
had taken a dislike to Mr. Lewis. He had not been so critical of
either men or motives in the old days. He had remembered Lewis as a
good sort. Now he disliked the man, distrusted him. He was too smooth,
too sleek. "I'll discount that twenty percent, for a cash sale."