They thought they could lay out this money to better advantage than the safe family adviser 'uncle John,' with his talk of the Indian railways and a guaranteed five per cent.

They thought (for awhile) that they had done a very clever thing on the sly in lending their spare hundreds to the great Mr.Frank D---- at a high rate of interest, and by this time would perhaps be glad to get the money back again in the tea-caddy.
But Frank was not the man to be satisfied with such small game.

After a time he succeeded in getting at the 'squire.' The squire had nothing but the rents of his farms to live upon, and was naturally anxious for an improving tenant who would lay out money and put capital into the soil.

He was not so foolish as to think that Frank was a safe man, and of course he had legal advice upon the matter.

The squire thought, in fact, that although Frank himself had no money, Frank could get it out of others, and spend it upon his place.