"
"Don't talk rot!" said Bunny gruffly.
Saltash stretched up his arms with a laugh. "No, we'll talk sense--good
square sense. I take it you'll continue to manage the estate for the
present? If you get bored, we'll find an agent, but I'm satisfied with
things as they are. We'll go round and have a look at the old Dower
House to-morrow. It has a fairly decent position, you know,--overlooks
Graydown. That ought to please you both."
Bunny turned upon him. "Oh, confound it, Charlie!" he said. "I can't talk
about this. I couldn't possibly take it. You're too damned generous. I've
never done anything to deserve it."
"Oh yes, you have!" said Saltash unexpectedly, "you've done a good many
things for me. You have always been the _bon ami_ whatever I did--from
your childhood upwards." His dark face laughed with friendly warmth into
the boy's troubled eyes. "Always stuck up for me, haven't you, Bunny?" he
said.
"Oh, but that's rot," objected Bunny. "A man is bound to stick up for his
pals."
"Even though he knows they're not worth it?" laughed Saltash. "Yes,
that's just what I like about you. It's the one point on which we touch.
But I'm not sure that even you would stick up for me if you knew
precisely what sort of rotter you were sticking up for.
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