Suffice it that this one had thrown himself on his father's generosity,
only to find that the father himself was in financial straits.

"What!" cried Raffles, "with that house on his hands?"

"I knew it would surprise you," said Teddy Garland. "I can't understand
it myself; he gave me no particulars, but the mere fact was enough for
me. I simply couldn't tell my father everything after that. He wrote me a
cheque for all I did own up to, but I could see it was such a tooth that
I swore I'd never come on him to pay another farthing. And I never will!"

The boy took a sip from his glass, for his voice had faltered, and then
he paused to light another cigarette, because the last had gone out
between his fingers. So sensitive and yet so desperate was the blonde
young face, with the creased forehead and the nervous mouth, that I saw
Raffles look another way until the match was blown out.

"But at the time I might have done worse, and did," said Teddy, "a
thousand times! I went to the Jews. That's the whole trouble. There were
more debts--debts of honour--and to square up I went to the Jews. It was
only a matter of two or three hundred to start with; but you may know,
though I didn't, what a snowball the smallest sum becomes in the hands of
those devils. I borrowed three hundred and signed a promissory note for
four hundred and fifty-six."

"Only fifty per cent!" said Raffles. "You got off cheap if the percentage
was per annum."

"Wait a bit! It was by way of being even more reasonable than that. The
four hundred and fifty-six was repayable in monthly instalments of twenty