He had reached a critical point in his enterprise. All that was wanted
now was ten thousand dollars in cash to enable him to close the great
bargain and make his hundred and fifty thousand. But to want ten
thousand dollars and to get it in a given space of time, when you have
neither securities, cash, nor real estate, is enough to keep you awake at
night. Crozier had been so busy with the delicate and difficult
negotiations that he had not deeply concerned himself with the absence of
the necessary ten thousand dollars. He thought he could get the money at
any time, so good was the proposition; and it was best to defer
raising it to the last moment lest some one learning the secret should
forestall him. He must first have the stake to be played for before he
moved to get the cash with which to make the throw. This is not
generally thought a good way, but it was his way, and it had yet to be
tested.
There was no cloud of apprehension, however, in Crozier's eyes as they
met those of Sibley. He liked Sibley. At this point it is not necessary
to say why. The reason will appear in due time. Sibley's face had
always something of that immobility and gravity which Crozier's face had
part of the time-paler, less intelligent, with dark lines and secret
shadows absent from Crozier's face; but still with some of the El Greco
characteristics which marked so powerfully that of the man who passed as
J.
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