"Stocks?" suggested Vane. He was acquainted with some of the family
tendencies.

Evelyn hesitated a moment.

"That would more readily have been forgiven him. I believe he has
speculated on the turf as well."

Vane was surprised. He understood that Gerald Chisholm was a barrister,
and betting on the turf was not an amusement he would have associated
with that profession.

"I must run up and see him by and by," he said thoughtfully.

Evelyn felt sorry she had spoken. Gerald needed help, which his father
was not in a position to offer. Evelyn was not censorious of other
people's faults, but it was impossible to be blind to some aspects of her
brother's character, and she would have preferred that Vane should not
meet Gerald while the latter was embarrassed by financial difficulties.
She abruptly changed the subject.

"Several of the things you have told me about your life in Canada
interest me. It must have been bracing to feel that you depended upon
your own efforts and stood on your own feet, free from the hampering
customs that are common here."

"The position has its disadvantages. You have no family influence behind
you--nothing to fall back on. If you can't make good your footing, you
must go down. It's curious that just before I came over here, a lady I
met in Vancouver expressed an opinion very much like yours. She said it