"But surely--"
"Ay, surely, sir, I'm no object of charity whining for alms, no, by Gad! I--I'm--Dig, push the brandy!"
"If you would but listen--" Barnabas began again.
"Not--not a word. Why should I? Past's dead, and damn the Future. Dig, pass the brandy."
"And I tell you," said Barnabas, "that in the future are hope and the chance of a new life, once you are free of Gaunt."
"Free of Gaunt! Hark to that, Dig. Must be dev'lish drunk to talk such cursed f-folly! Why, I tell you again," he cried in rising passion, "that I couldn't get free of Gaunt's talons even if I had the money, and mine's all gone long ago, and half Cleone's beside, --her Guardian's tied up the rest. She can't touch another penny without his consent, damn him!--so I'm done. The future? In the future is a debtor's prison that opens for me whenever Jasper Gaunt says the word. Hope? There can be no hope for me till Jasper Gaunt's dead and shrieking in hell-fire."
"But your debts shall be paid,--if you will."
"Paid? Who--who's to pay 'em?"
"I will."
"You!--you?"
"Yes," nodded Barnabas, "on a condition."
Ronald Barrymaine sank back upon the couch, staring at Barnabas with eyes wide and with parted lips; then, leaned suddenly forward, sobered by surprise.
"Ah-h!" said he slowly. "I think I begin to understand. You have seen my--my sister."
"Yes."
"Do you know--how much I owe?"
"No, but I'll pay it,--on a condition."
"A condition?" For a long moment the passionate dark eyes met and questioned the steady gray; then Barrymaine's long lashes fluttered and fell.
"Of course it would be a loan. I--I'd pay you back," he muttered.
"At your own convenience."
"And you would advance the money at once?"
"On a condition!"
Once again their eyes met, and once again Barrymaine's dropped; his fingers clenched and unclenched themselves, he stirred restlessly, and, finally, spoke.
"And your condition. Is it--Cleone?"
"No!" said Barnabas vehemently.
"Then, what is it?"
"That from this hour you give up brandy and Mr. Chichester--both evil things."
"Well, and what more,--what--for yourself? How can this benefit you? Come, speak out,--what is your real motive?"
"The hope that you may, some day, be worthy of your sister's love."
"Worthy, sir!" exclaimed Barrymaine, flushing angrily. "Poverty is no crime!"
"No; but there remain brandy and Mr. Chichester."
"Ha! would you insult m-my friend?"
"Impossible. You have no friend, unless it be Mr. Smivvle here."
"Now by heaven," began Barrymaine passionately, "I tell you--"
"And I tell you that these are my only conditions," said Barnabas. "Accept them and you may begin a new life. It is in your power to become the man you might be, to regain the place in men's esteem that you have lost, for if you are but sufficiently determined, nothing is impossible."
Now as he spoke, Barnabas beheld Barrymaine's drooping head uplifted, his curving back grew straight, and a new light sprang into his eyes.
"A new life," he muttered, "to come back to it all, to outface them all after their cursed sneers and slights! Are you sure you don't promise too much,--are you sure it's not too late?"
"Sure and certain!" said Barnabas. "But remember the chance of salvation rests only with and by yourself, after all," and he pointed to the half-emptied bottle. "Do you agree to my conditions?"
"Yes, yes, by God I do!"
"Then, friend, give me your hand. To-day I go to see Jasper Gaunt."
So Ronald Barrymaine, standing square upon his feet, gave Barnabas his hand. But even in that moment Barnabas was conscious that the door had opened softly behind him, saw the light fade out of Barrymaine's eyes, felt the hand grow soft and lax, and turning about, beheld Mr. Chichester smiling at them from the threshold.
CHAPTER XXX
IN WHICH RONALD BARRYMAINE MAKES HIS CHOICE
There was a moment of strained silence, then, as Barnabas sank back on the rickety chair, Mr. Chichester laughed softly, and stepped into the room.
"Salvation, was it, and a new life?" he inquired, "are you the one to be saved, Ronald, or Smivvle here, or both?"
Ronald Barrymaine was dumb, his eyes sought the floor, and his pale cheek became, all at once, suffused with a burning, vivid scarlet.
"I couldn't help but overhear as I came upstairs," pursued Mr. Chichester pleasantly, "and devilish dark stairs they are--"
"Though excellent for eavesdropping, it appears!" added Barnabas.
"What?" cried Barrymaine, starting up, "listening, were you--s-spying on me--is that your game, Chichester?" But hereupon Mr. Smivvle started forward.
"Now, my dear Barry," he remonstrated, "be calm--"
"Calm? I tell you nobody's going to spy on me,--no, by heaven! neither you, nor Chichester, nor the d-devil himself--"
"Certainly not, my dear fellow," answered Mr. Smivvle, drawing Barrymaine's clenched fist through his arm and holding it there, "nobody wants to. And, as for you, Chichester--couldn't come at a better time--let me introduce our friend Mr. Beverley--"
"Thank you, Smivvle, but we've met before," said Mr. Chichester dryly, "last time he posed as Rustic Virtue in homespun, to-day it seems he is the Good Samaritan in a flowered waistcoat, very anxiously bent on saving some one or other--conditionally, of course!"
"And what the devil has it to do with you?" cried Barrymaine passionately.
"Nothing, my dear boy, nothing in the world,--except that until to-day you have been my friend, and have honored me with your confidence."
"Yes, by heavens! So I have--utterly--utterly,--and what I haven't told you--y-you've found out for yourself--though God knows how. N-not that I've anything to f-fear,--not I!"
"Of course not," smiled Mr. Chichester, "I am--your friend, Ronald, --and I think you will always remember that." Mr. Chichester's tone was soothing, and the pat he bestowed upon Barrymaine's drooping shoulder was gentle as a caress, yet Barrymaine flinched and drew away, and the hand he stretched out towards the bottle was trembling all at once.
"Yes," Mr.