Turning back into the room, he threw up his arms. "Midnight--midnight--
my God, where am I to get the money! I must--I must have it . . .
It's the only way back."

Sitting down at the table, he dropped his head into his hands and shut
his eyes in utter dejection. "Mona--by Heaven, no, I'll never take it
from her!" he said once, and clenched his hands at his temples and sat
on and on unmoving.




CHAPTER XVII

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IT?

For a full half-hour Crozier sat buried in dark reflection, then he
slowly raised his head, and for a minute looked round dazedly. His
absorption had been so great that for a moment he was like one who had
awakened upon unfamiliar things. As when in a dream of the night the
history of years will flash past like a ray of light, so for the bad
half-hour in which Crozier had given himself up to despair, his mind had
travelled through an incongruous series of incidents of his past life,
and had also revealed pictures of solution after solution of his present
troubles.

He had that-gift of visualization which makes life an endless procession
of pictures which allure, or which wear the nature into premature old
age. The last picture flashing before his eyes, as he sat there alone,
was of himself and his elder brother, Garnett, now master of Castlegarry,