Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

Sally Dows by Bret Harte
page 186 of 203 (91%)
down on his elder brother.

"Then, as far as I can see," he said quietly, "you have made ducks and
drakes of your share of the property, and that virtually you are in the
hands of this man Gunn and his father."

"You're putting it too strongly," said Gabriel deprecatingly. "In the
first place, my investments with Gunn's firm are by no means failures,
and they only hold as security a mortgage on the forest land below the
hill. It's scarcely worth the money. I would have sold it long ago, but
it had been a fancy of father's to keep it wild land for the sake of old
times and the healthiness of the town."

"There used to be a log cabin there, where the old man had a habit of
camping out whenever he felt cramped by civilization up here, wasn't
there?" said Uncle Sylvester meditatively.

"Yes," said Gabriel impatiently; "it's still there--but to return to Mr.
Gunn. He has taken a fancy to Kitty, and even if I could not lift the
mortgage, there's some possibility that the land would still remain in
the family."

"I think I'll drive over this afternoon and take a look at the old
shanty if this infernal weather lets up."

"Yes; but just now, my dear Sylvester, let us attend to business. I want
to show you those investments."

"Oh, certainly; trot 'em out," said his brother, plucking up a
simulation of interest as he took a seat at the table.
DigitalOcean Referral Badge