"
"Well, then, I suppose he ran his horse," added Jane, in the same
quiet, drawling tone. "_Something_ must have run, or they never
would have got up the story."
I wondered if Miss Jane Hitchcox had ever taken the trouble to
ascertain who _they_ were! I happened to know both the Viners,
and to be quite certain there was not a word of truth in the report of
the twenty thousand dollars, having heard all the particulars of the
late failure from one of my former owners, who was an assignee, and a
considerable creditor. Under the circumstances, I thought I would hint
as much.
"Are you quite sure that the failure of Viner & Co. was owing to the
circumstance you mention, Mr. Brigham?" I inquired.
"Pretty certain. I am '_measurably acquainted_' with their
affairs, and think I am tolerably safe in saying so."
Now, "measurably acquainted" meant that he lived within twenty or
thirty miles of those who _did_ know something of the concerns of
the house in question, and was in the way of catching scraps of the
gossip that fell from disappointed creditors. How much of this is
there in this good country of ours! Men who live just near enough to
one another to feel the influence of all that rivalry, envy, personal
strifes and personal malignancies, can generate, fancy they are
acquainted, from this circumstance, with those to whom they have never
even spoken.
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