She smiled at him very slightly, as she might at a stubborn child. "I
suppose you'll have your way, but, I shouldn't tell you this, Jack, but
I will." She used his first name so naturally that he didn't notice for
an instant. "Duke had to borrow heavily to build Tunneltown. He left me
broke and in debt. The town brings in quite a little money now--though
maybe not as much as most people think. But when I've made a monthly
payment on the debts, there's very little left. If the town didn't give
me my living expenses, I could scarcely get by. Now if the gambling
goes, at least two saloons will have to close. If I lose the money from
those leases, I'm ruined. There won't even be enough even to make the
payments to my creditors."
He made a small gesture of helplessness. "The last thing I want to do
is hurt _you_. But the gambling...."
"If we could just have a little time, we might find other kinds of
business that would lease those buildings."
"It isn't my time to give away," he said. "It's Ben's. And he hasn't
got much of it. How much do you need?"
"I've no idea."
"The crooked gamblers have to go right now along with the rest of the
riffraff. There can be no delay about that."