THE SILVER FOX 123 



twenty with his usual decision. If there 

 were a weakness in his business dealings, it 

 lay in his determination to be decisive at 

 all points. The small and deliberate 

 methods of expediency w^ere intolerable to 

 him ; he w^ould rather do without bread 

 than accept the half-loaf. Now, even while 

 each trivial episode was tinged with the 

 reflected light of his future, and all were 

 converging towards an immediate crisis, 

 he held to his point, and had not Mr. 

 Murphy known of an immediate customer 

 for Solomon, the bargain might have ended 

 untimely. As it was, the two horses 

 changed hands at Mr. Glasgow's price, with 

 the understanding that both could be 

 hunted next day by their former owmer. 

 Mr. Glasgow insisted on this point, and 

 took all risks. 



When it was all over, and Mr. Murphy 

 and the vet. had had whiskies-and-sodas 

 and gone away, Glasgow went back to his 

 office and took up again his task of burning 

 and sorting papers. Being habitually 



