Sadie gave him a quick glance.  He had recently become fastidious about his clothes and she did not grudge the dollars he spent on them.  His taste was good, and he looked very graceful as he turned to her with a smile on his face.  The hint of dissipation it had worn was not so marked, for she had some power over him and used it well, but she thought he had been indulging.  There was, however, no use in getting angry with Bob.

“You were at Wilkinson’s again,” she said.  “You promised you’d stop off going there.  I suppose he set up the whisky!”

“I didn’t take much.  It wasn’t good whisky; not like ours.  That reminds me—­I’m not much of a business man, but I’ve had a happy thought.  My notion is we give the boys better liquor than they want.  They wouldn’t know the difference if we kept cheaper stuff.”

Sadie frowned, because she had accepted her father’s business code.  His charges were high, but it had been his boast that Keller’s delivered the goods one paid for.  Then she realized that Bob had nearly succeeded in putting off the threatened talk.

“No,” she said, “that’s bad business in the end.  When you’d had some whisky, Wilkinson got out the cards?”

“Oh, well, you know you stopped me playing a quiet game at home, and three or four of the boys were there.  Then a Brandon real-estate man asked for the cards.”

“How much were you out when you finished the game?”

“Not much,” said Charnock with some hesitation.

“How much?”

“If you insist, about ten dollars.”

Sadie made a gesture of impatience, but after all he might have had a heavier loss.

“Ten dollars and a headache next morning for an evening’s card game.  You surely don’t know much, Bob!  But look at this statement and tell me where the money’s gone.”

Charnock took the paper she gave him and colored.

“I never thought it was as much as that.  Upon my word, I didn’t!”

“Where’s it gone?” Sadie demanded.

“I’ve been unlucky,” said Charnock, who began a confused explanation.

He had heard of a building lot on the outskirts of Winnipeg, to which he had been told a new street line would run.  He had paid for a time option on the site, and now it appeared that the trolley scheme had been abandoned.  Then somebody had given him a hint about a deal in grain that the speculators could not put over.  It looked a safe snap and he had sold down, but the market had gone up and his margin was exhausted.  When he stopped, Sadie’s eyes flashed scornfully, but she controlled her anger.

“You’re a fool, Bob; you never learn,” she said wearily.  “Anyhow, you have got to cut out this kind of thing; the business won’t stand for it long.  Well, as you can’t be trusted with dollars, I’ll have to put you on an allowance.  I hate to be mean, but if you waste what I give you, you’ll get no more.”

Charnock’s face got red.  “This is rather a nasty knock.  Not that I want your money, but the thing’s humiliating.”