eally is a very serious
matter; more serious than anything that ever happened to me."

Peter walked to the sofa and sat down. Jack's manner and the tone of his
voice showed that a grave calamity had overtaken the boy. He sat looking
into Jack's eyes.

"Go on," he said, his heart in his mouth.

"I must have ten thousand dollars. How and where can I borrow it?"

Peter started. "Ten thousand dollars!" he repeated in undisguised
surprise. "Whew! Why, Jack, that's a very large sum of money for you to
want. Why, my dear boy, this is--well--well!"

"It is not for me, Uncle Peter--or I would not come to you for it."

"For whom is it, then?" Peter asked, in a tone that showed how great was
his relief now that Jack was not involved.

"Don't ask me, please."

Peter was about to speak, but he checked himself. He saw it all now.
The money was for MacFarlane, and the boy did not like to say so. He had
heard something of Henry's financial difficulties caused by the damage
to the "fill." He thought that this had been made good; he saw now that
he was misinformed.

"When do you want it, Jack?" he resumed. He was willing to help, no
matter who it was for.

"Before Monday night."

Peter drew out his watch as if to find some relief from its dial, and
slipped it into his pocket again. It was not yet three o'clock and his
bank was still open, but it did not contain ten thousand dollars or
any other sum that he could draw upon. Besides, neither Jack, nor
MacFarlane, nor anybody connected with Jack, had an account at the
Exeter. The discounting of their notes was, therefore, out of the
question.

"To-day is a short business day, Jack, being Saturday," he said with a
sigh. "If I had known of this before I might have--and yet to tell you
the simple truth, my boy, I don't know a human being in the world who
would lend me that much money, or whom I could ask for it."

"I thought maybe Mr. Morris might, if you went to him, but I understand
he is out of town," returned Jack.

"Yes," answered Peter in a perplexed tone--"yes--Holker has gone to
Chicago and won't be back for a week." He, too, had thought of Morris
and the instantaneous way in which he would have reached for his
check-book.

"And you must have it by Monday night?" Peter continued, his thoughts
bringing into review one after the other all the moneyed men he knew.
"Well--well--that IS a very short notice. It means Monday to hunt in,
really--to-morrow being Sunday."