pected of buying ore from miners and shipping it to the smelters.
Public opinion does not greatly condemn the practice." Bleyer, bowing as
he spoke, excused himself and withdrew.

Verinder appealed to Lady Farquhar. The indignation of the newly rich
sat heavily upon him. With all his little soul he disliked Jack Kilmeny.
Since the man had done so signal a service for Joyce, jealousy gnawed at
his heart.

"Of course we've got to be decent to the man, I suppose. He had a big
slice of luck in getting the chance to help Miss Seldon and Miss Dwight.
And I don't forget that he is a cousin to our friends. If it wasn't for
that I'd say to mail him a check and wipe the slate clean. But of
course----"

"You'd never dare," breathed Moya tensely. "I won't have him insulted."

"Of course not, under the circumstances. No need to get volcanic, Miss
Dwight. I merely suggested what I'd like to do. Now the burden is off my
shoulders. I have given you the facts."

"You've given us only suspicions, Mr. Verinder. I don't think it would
be fair to assume them correct," the chaperone answered.

But Moya knew that Verinder had dropped his seed in fruitful soil. Lady
Farquhar would not forget. Jack Kilmeny's welcome would be something
less than cordial henceforth.

CHAPTER XV

A HIGHGRADER--IN PRINCIPLE

In spite of the warm defense she had made of Kilmeny, the heart of Moya
was troubled. She knew him to be reckless. The boundaries of ethical
conduct were not the same for him as for Lord Farquhar, for instance. He
had told her as much in those summer days by the Gunnison when they were
first adventuring forth to friendship. His views on property and on the
struggle between capital and labor were radical. Could it be that they
carried him as far as this, that he would take ore to which others had
title?

The strange phase of the situation was that nobody in Goldbanks seemed
to give any consideration to the moral issue. If rumor were true, the
district attorney and a good many of the business men of the town were
engaged in disposing of this ore for the miners on a percentage basis.
Between the miners and the operating companies was war. If a workman
could get the better of the owners by taking ore that was a point to his
credit. Even Verinder and Bleyer at bottom regarded the matter as a
question of strength and not as one of equity.

Moya was still in process of thinking herself and life out. It was to
her an amazing thing