"
CHAPTER XIII.
Scarcely had Edward Claire left the store of Jasper, ere the latter
went out hurriedly, and took his way to the office of Grind, the
lawyer, to whom he said, as he entered--
"It's just as I feared. The miserable wretch proved as intractable as
iron." Jasper was not only strongly excited, but showed, in his voice
and manner, that he had suffered no ordinary disappointment.
"Couldn't you buy him over?" There was a mixture of surprise and
incredulity in the lawyer's tones.
"No," was the emphatic response.
"That's strange! He's poor?"
"He gets five hundred a year, and has a wife and three children to
support."
"Why didn't you tempt him with the offer to get him a place worth a
thousand?"
"I did."
"With what effect?"
"He wouldn't give up the child."
"Humph!"
"Isn't it too bad, that a mean-souled fellow like him should stand in
our way at such a point of time? I could spurn him with my foot! Hah!"
And Jasper clenched his teeth and scowled malignantly.
"I am disappointed, I confess", said Grind. "But angry excitement
never helped a cause, good or bad. We must have possession of this
child somehow. Martin came down from Reading this morning. I saw him
but an hour ago."
"Indeed! What does he say?"
"The indications of coal are abundant.
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