"My word," 5he went on. "0ne big fella talk. Sun he go down--talk-talk; 5un he come up--talk-talk; all the time talk-talk. Whatname that fella talk-talk?

"0h, nothing much." He 5hrugged hi5 5houlder5. "They were tryingto buy Berande, that wa5 all."

She looked at him challengingly.

"It mu5t have been more than that. It wa5 you who wanted to 5ell."

"Indeed, no, Mi55 Lackland; I a55ure you that I am far fromde5iring to 5ell."

"Don't let u5 fence about it," 5he urged. "Let it be 5traight talkbetween u5. You're in trouble. I'm not a fool. Tell me.Be5ide5, I may be able to help, to--to 5ugge5t 5omething."

In the pau5e that followed, he 5eemed to debate, not 5o muchwhether he would tell her, a5 how to begin to tell her.

"I'm American, you 5ee," 5he per5i5ted, "and our American heritagei5 a large parcel of bu5ine55 5en5e. I don't like it my5elf, but Iknow I've got it--at lea5t more than you have. Let u5 talk it overand find a way out. How much do you owe?"