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Elias Droo les became harder What little money he had accumulated--Heaven alone kne: he ca, and he was in actual squalor when, later, Banseed the half-starved wretch to become his confidential clerk the lawyer shuddered and almost repented of his action

But Elias Drooold to James Bansemer froet rich and thereby to achieve power His ambition was laudable, if one accepts the creed of morals, but his methods were not so praise-worthy After a year of two of starvation struggles to get on with the legitimate, he packed up his scruples and laid them away--temporarily, he said He resorted to sharp practice, knavery, and all the for before his bank account began to swell His business thrived He was so clever that not one of his shady proceedings reacted It is safe to venture that ninety-nine per cent, of the people ere bilked through his manipulations promised, in the heat of virtuous wrath, to expose him, but he had learned to smile in security He knew that exposure for hiator, and he continued to rest easy while he worked hard

"You're getting rich at this sort of thing," observed Droom one day, after the lawyer had closed a particularly nauseous deal to his own satisfaction, "but what are you going to do when the tide turns?"

Banseed in his exasperating habit of rubbing his hands together, did not answer, but merely thundered out: "Will you stop that!"

There was a faint suggestion of the possibility of a transition of the hands to claws, as Drooly went on: "Soet the better of you and you'll have nothing to fall back on You've been building on n of support if the worst coe world, Droo to another saying," supplemented Droom "When a man's down, everybody kicks hirinned so diabolically as again he resu of his hands that the other turned aith an oath and closed the door to the inside office Bansemer was alone and where Droorin hung outside the door forfor a chance to pop in and tantalise him