Farnum, and Mr. Benson, my dear," announced John Rhinds, in oily
tones. "Gentlemen, my wife, and my daughter, Helen. Both have something
to say to you, gentlemen. Be seated, won't you?"
With that Rhinds slipped away. Like many another cur, in the hour when
he finds himself driven to the wall, John Rhinds had sent for his wife
and daughter. He proposed to escape from the consequences of his
rascally acts by hiding behind the skirts of pure and good women who
had the strange fortune to have their lives linked with his.
"What is all this that I have heard, sir?" asked Mrs. Rhinds, tears
filling her eyes fast, as she turned to regard the Dunhaven shipbuilder.
It was the hardest hour Jacob Farnum had ever spent, and the same was
true for Jack Benson.
This wife and daughter had the most absolute faith in the goodness of
John Rhinds. They pleaded gently, eloquently, for these two enemies
to have faith in their husband and father.
"You surely don't believe that Mr. Rhinds was at the bottom of any such
scoundrelly plot as the papers are talking about?" asked Mrs.
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