"
"But they're not trying to give you the worst of it," she burst out.
Visions of utter humiliation arose to confront and madden her. "You've
insulted and abused our best friends--to say nothing of giving us all
the benefit of newspaper scandal. We'll be notorious!"
"Best friends? God save the mark!" he snorted contemptuously. "Our
best friends, as you please to call them, are crooks, thieves, and
liars. They're rotten. They stink with their moral rottenness. And
they have the gall to call it good business."
"Just because their business methods don't agree with your peculiar
ideas is no reason why you should call names," she flared. "Mr. Brooks
called just after you left at noon. _He_ told me something about this,
and assured me that you would find yourself mistaken if you'd only take
pains to think it over. I don't believe such men as they are would
stoop to anything crooked. Even if the opportunity offered, they have
too much at stake in this community. They couldn't afford to be
crooked."
"So Brooks came around to talk it over with you, eh?" Bill sneered.
"Told you it was all on the square, did he? Explained it all very
plausibly, I suppose. Probably suggested that you try smoothing me
down, too.
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