"You know I can't carry on. I came to you, hoping you might suggest a
workable plan. Who is the buyer?"

"I am," said Hayes.

Osborn's face got red and he struggled for self-control. The fellow
was his servant, but it looked as if he had cunningly involved him in
entanglements an honest agent would have avoided. Osborn remembered
that he had sometimes vaguely suspected Hayes. Now he knew him, it
was too late.

"I may be forced to sell, but not to you," he said haughtily.

Hayes shrugged. "That must be as you like, but I'm able to give you a
better price than anybody else. I have an object for buying the farms
and, if necessary, would pay something near their proper value, without
taking off much for the debt. Anyhow, you had better look at this
statement of your liabilities."

Osborn studied the document with a hopeless feeling. Things were worse
than he had feared and it cost him an effort to pull himself together
when he looked up.

"Why do you want to buy?" he asked.

"Well, you see, the land between Forsyth's and the dale-head is heavily
mortgaged, and, taking the two farms with the others, would make a
compact block that could be economically worked. The new estate would run
down to Tarnside, and since you may find it needful to sell the house, I
might make you an offer."

"But the consolidation wouldn't help _you_," Osborn remarked with
a puzzled look. "It would, perhaps, be an advantage for the mortgage
holders."

"I hold the mortgages," Hayes said quietly.

Osborn started. "But," he stammered, "I got the money from somebody
else."

"That is so. I bought the other debts, and supplied the funds when you
raised new loans."

"You bought the debts with my money!" Osborn exclaimed. "You used your
post to rob me of my estate!"

"I suppose one must make allowances, but you are unjust. You got the
proper value for the land you pawned, and squandered the money. The
consequence was inevitable and it's futile to complain. For that
matter, it is not altogether unusual for a landlord and his steward to
change places."

"I trusted you and you cheated me," Osborn resumed with poignant
bitterness.

"You lived in false security and refused to think. You knew the reckoning
must come, but were satisfied if you could put it off. Now you must bear
the consequences, it is not my fault. However, this is not important.
Will you sell?"

"No," said Osborn hoarsely. "I will not sell to _you_."

Hayes smiled. "Yo