I--I--" he wrenched the next sentence loose after what seemed a violent effort, "I might let you have half of it--a thousand, say." But Thankful refused to say a thousand.

That was ridiculous, she declared.

By degrees, and a hundred at a time, Solomon raised his offer to fifteen hundred.

This being the sum Mrs.Barnes had considered in the first place--and having asked for the two thousand merely because of her judgment of human nature--she announced that she would think over the offer.

Then came the question of time.