"I chance to remember a word which his father spoke to me a number of years
ago, when the boy was a young lad, and was recovering from a sickness that
made it seem possible he would need a change of climate. I happen to
remember meeting his father, who told me of this, and how he was arranging
in his own mind to change his business, to make any sacrifice, to move to
the ends of the earth, if necessary, for that boy's sake.
"The boy is not a bad boy. But he had not been in my home an hour before he
asked me for the address of a tailor, and when his new suit came,--a suit
which I thought he might very well have waited to earn,--it was silk-lined
throughout. I do not believe the suit which his father wears as he passes
the plate in church every Sunday is silk-lined.
"I knew what the boy was to earn, and could estimate what he could afford,
and I knew that he could not buy that suit out of his own earnings.
"I had a letter from his father a few days ago. Shall I read it to you? It
is very short. It reads as follows:--
"'MY DEAR FRIEND: I hope you will never know how hard it is for me to write
to you to say that you must not under any circumstances lend money to my
dear boy.
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